Concrete - Issue 284

UEA’s Student Newspaper

Issue 284 • Free • Tuesday 7 May

Keep up to date with Concrete this summer on concrete-online.co.uk

Suspects charged after campaign against bike thefts at UEA

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Inside...

LIFESTYLE

P.14

• Student cycles retrieved after police investigations • Arrests made in connection to UEA thefts Philip Thomas News Reporter

SMOKIN’ BBQ RECIPIES

FASHION

V.5

SUMMER STYLE TIPS

TV

V.11

REVIEW: VICIOUS

Norfolk Constabulary confirmed three people were charged last month in connection with bike thefts across Norwich, including several bikes stolen from the University of East Anglia campus.

The arrests follow the launch of Operation Fusion – a police crackdown on bike thefts in Norwich, with increased patrols in crime hotspots and spot checks for people seen acting suspiciously with bikes or around cycle racks.

Police investigating nine bike thefts from UEA charged a 24-year-old man, after he was arrested during a raid on a nearby address at 4:30am on Wednesday 24 April. Paddy Mutch of Sarah Williman Close, Norwich, faces two charges of bike theft, after a number of stolen bikes were recovered from the garden of the property.

Mutch was released on conditional bail to appear before Norwich Magistrates Court on Monday 13 May. Meanwhile, no further action will be taken against a 16-year-old boy also arrested in relation to the UEA thefts.

In a separate case, two local men were charged in connection with an incident on Riverside. Liam Ward, 24 , of Horning Close, and James Bradbury, 26, of Irstead Road, are accused of attempting to steal two bikes from railings on Koblenz Avenue.

Ward has also been charged with possession of amphetamine, and both men have been released on conditional bail to appear before city magistrates on Monday 13 May. UEA Security warns that cable-style bike locks are particularly vulnerable to

Philip Thomas opportunist thieves, and recommend that cyclists secure their bikes with D-locks and utilise proper cycle racks and compounds on campus. D-locks can be purchased for £10 from the Dean of Students Office and the Security

Lodge.

The local police and UEA Security also advise that bikes are registered for free with the Immobilise Property Register, which enables police to identify the owners of stolen goods.

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concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk

Editorial

Editor-in-chief | Sidonie ChafferMelly concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Deputy Editor | Sophie Witts concrete.managingeditor@uea.ac.uk Online Editor | Billy Sexton Deputy Online Editor | Amelia

Marchington concrete.online@uea.ac.uk News | Andrew Ansell & Lara-Jayne Ellice concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Comment | Zoë Jones concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk Global | Ella Gilbert concrete.global@uea.ac.uk Features | Bridie Wilkinson concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Environment | Peter Sheehan concrete.environment@uea.ac.uk Science & Tech | Dominic Burchnall concrete.science@uea.ac.uk Travel | Niyonu Agana-Burke concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk Lifestyle | Lydia Clifton concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk Sport | Charlie Savage & Will Medlock concrete.sport@hotmail.co.uk Copy Editors | Stephenie Naulls & Lucy Morris concretecopyeditors@gmail.com Chief Photographers | Jacob Roberts-Kendall & Will Cockram concrete.photography@uea.ac.uk

Issue 284

Contributors

News | Rachael Lum, Harry Slater, Andrew Ansell, Philip Thomas, Polly Grice, Hayden East, Lara-Jayne Ellice Comment | Robbie Wishart, Rosie Yates, Emma Holbrook, Jay SlaytonJoslin, Saul Holmes, Jack Perkin Global | Pete Cutler, Benjamin Brown, Ella Gilbert Features | Bridie Wilkinson, Stephanie Watson Environment | Jake Strong Jones, Amelia Edwards, Peter Sheehan Science & Tech | Dominic Burchnall, Julie Bishop, Ian Roberts Travel | Lauren Cope, Callum Graham, Jessica Crisp, Maddy Hutt Lifestyle | Maddy Hutt, Kelly York, Chloe Cran, Amy Osterloh, Emily Fedorowycz Sport | Steven van de Put, Charlie Savage, Will Medlock, Billy Sexton Proofreaders | Stephenie Naulls, Lucy Morris, Amy Osterloh

Write for Concrete this summer!

Interested in contributing over to Concrete over the summer?

Our website will still be running, so email your articles to concrete.online@uea.ac.uk

The paper will return on 21 September

Photography Corner The sun finally comes to Norwich...

Editorial

07/05/13

The Editor’s Column Welcome to the first issue of Concrete with the 2013/14 editorial team!

It’s been a tough few weeks fitting in everything around exams and coursework but we’ve managed to put together a great issue, and I’m really proud of what everyone has achieved.

Big shout outs to everyone who has got involved, especially members of the departing editorial team who came to look after us when things were looking sketchy. They’ve been amazing all year and we couldn’t have done it without them. It will be sad to see them leave but we wish them all the love and luck in the world.

An extra special thanks also has to go to the staff at Union House reception and the security lodge for letting us in on bank holiday Monday, the paper wouldn’t have got to press without your help!

Looking forward, I think this year is going to be a good one. I know everyone has loads of ideas that they’re ready to try out, and we’ll have some exciting things coming up next year.

The first of these, as you might have noticed, is our brand new Agony Aunt column, Hayden Helps (tweet us your problems - #haydenhelps).

We’ll be back in September, so returners keep an eye out. We’ll be looking for writers, photographers, proofreaders and anybody who wants to get involved. In the meantime check out our website – our wonderful new online editors will be keeping it up to date with everything you might need.

Until then grab a Pimms, head to the lake and have an awesome summer.

Hayden Helps...

Send in your questions anonymously at http://concreteuea.tumblr.com/

Dear Hayden, Two of my flatmates have started going at it. They don’t stop. I’m getting tired and there’s always a johnny stuck to the bin. The worst part is that they’re trying to hide it, which is understandable, because it’s not like they last long. What should I do about this?

Dear Sleepless, you appear to be the collateral damage of what I like to call ‘in-house incest’. It’s unfortunate, but you’re certainly not alone. I recommend rallying a 10 personstrong army out of your remaining flatmates, and conducting some notso-subtle guerrilla warfare.

Sam Carruthers @samcarruthers WHY AM I LYING IN THE SUN AND NOT REVISING UNIVERSITY IS A JOKE Instagram: Magentasunrise

Suggested tactics involve blasting out horrendously sexless music until they get the memo - the old classic Jizz In My Pants, or some Marvin Gaye if you want to be less obvious. I hear a passive aggressive outing on an Agony Aunt column also works too.

Or you could just talk to them - but that’s awkward, and you don’t need that.

Sleepless in Suffolk Terrace

Tweet of the Week

Instagram: Ingrid Tsu

Sidonie Chaffer-Melly Editor-in-Chief

It’s been real, it’s been cute, but it’s not been real cute, Hayden

Contact Us Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593 466 www.concrete-online.co.uk www.concblog.wordpress.com Editorial inquiries / complaints concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk Got a story? concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

Concrete welcomes all letters and emails, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Letters should be addressed to the editor-in-chief, and include contact details. All emails should be sent to concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk. We will consider anonymous publication, and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. Anonymous article submissions are permitted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the newspaper. No part of this newspaper may be reproduced through any means without the express permission of the editor, Amy Adams. Published by UUEAS Concrete Society ©2013 Concrete BMc ISSN 1351-2773

News

07/05/13

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concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

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Tories lose control of Norfolk County Council Andrew Ansell News Editor The result of the 2013 local elections to the Norfolk County Council has left no party in overall control.

UKIP and Labour made sweeping gains winning 15 and 14 seats respectively.

From previously holding only one seat on the County Council to establishing itself as the Council’s second largest party, UKIP will undoubtedly carry this momentum into next year’s European elections. The upheaval of the council’s political contours was underlined by the Conservatives losing 20 seats.

Nevertheless, the Conservatives securing the largest vote share of 32.6% will serve to qualify statements of a total shift in voter preferences in Norfolk. This is supplemented by the characteristically

low turnout in local elections. Only 32% of those registered to vote the election cast their ballot.

Commenting upon the shift in the balance of power the leader of the Green group, Cllr Richard Bearman, said: “No longer can one party make all the big decisions on its own without proper debate and scrutiny”. The state of no overall control will see different groups on the council seeking to co-operate to keep others in check.

Local Labour Party activists will be heartened by the gains their party have made at the expense of the Green Party. The Labour Party won three seats previously held by the Green Party.

Voters in the Town Close Ward returned a Labour councillor, with a 14.6% swing against the Green Party. Voters in the University again returned a Labour candidate to the County Council.

Efforts to reduce crime paying dividends

League table success for UEA Rachael Lum News Reporter

Harry Slater News Reporter Burglaries in Norfolk are at a 20-year low following the introduction of special crime-fighting measures by police.

Between April 2012 - 2013, 1,372 burglaries were reported, a 73% reduction compared with the mid-1990s when over 5,000 were reported yearly.

The success is credited to Norfolk Police’s targeting of repeat offenders.

The Integrated Offender Management scheme was introduced after statistics indicated that 10% of the county’s most prolific offenders commit 32% of crime.

In response, known criminals have been heavily scrutinised and causes of crime, such as drug addiction and unemployment, have been addressed.

Consequently, 180 known offenders, dubbed the “Norfolk 180”, have committed 831 fewer offences.

County Police Commander Chief Superintendent Nick Dean told the Eastern Daily Press: “Home burglary rates in our county are now at some of the lowest levels recorded which is testament to some really focused work to reduce the impact of this crime.”

Chief Constable Phil Gormley added: “Norfolk’s communities should feel reassured that their county remains one of the very safest.”

There has also been a considerable decline in anti-social behaviour; 6,175 fewer incidents were reported, down to 31,799 from 37,974. Incidents of sexual assault are also down from 685 to 562, an 18% decline.

More broadly, figures from the Office of National Statistics show that Norfolk is one of the safest counties in England.

Compared with the rest of the country, there are 44 crimes per year per 1,000 people in Norfolk, 23 less than the national average (67).

UEA continues to grace the upper end of the league tables by seizing the 20th spot in the Complete University Guide.

This is the first time the university has entered the top 20 in this national assessment, marking the hugest leap in rankings for the institution.

UEA is also listed in 31 of 67 individual subject tables, where only leading institutions in the respective areas are included. Three subjects taught in UEA are placed in the top ten nationally: American Studies, Communications and Media Studies, as well as Pharmacology and Pharmacy.

The league table is decided by assessing 124 UK universities in nine key areas, such as entry standards, student satisfaction, graduate prospects, research assessment and spending on academic services.

Pro-vice chancellor for research, Prof David Richardson said: “We have been high in the rankings for a number of years, but to rise by seven places into the top 20

demonstrates the ongoing commitment to improvement in our 50th anniversary year and is testament to the hard work and commitment of everyone at UEA, from academic to support staff and our students.”

He added that this can “only strengthen our reputation as a top class university offering the very best for our students and staff”.

UEA is also 90th in the world and 14th in the UK for research excellence, according to the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2013.

The Leiden Ranking, which adopts a more transparent and advanced way of determining scientific impact and involvement in collaborations, measures the scientific performance of 500 major universities worldwide through citations in research publications.

Publications by UEA were most cited in the fields of Social Science and Humanities in the UK. “The Leiden Ranking reflects our considerable investment in this area and illustrates the phenomenal impact and international reach of UEA research,” said Richardson.

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concrete.news@uea.ac.uk

UEA is officially wonderful Polly Grice News reporter The University of East Anglia has been officially named the best place in the country to be a student by a survey published on 25 April. The annual Student Experience Survey is published by the Times Higher Education magazine and allows students to rate their university according to 21 different categories including accommodation, security and sports facilities.

UEA has consistently been one of the top 10 universities for student satisfaction but has now been ranked top in the country, up from sixth place last year. In a press release, the University’s newly-appointed Chancellor, Rose Tremain, said: “students need to feel cared for, socially, culturally and above all, intellectually…Throughout its fifty years of expansion the university has never lost sight of its paramount commitment to intellectual excellence, and I’m delighted - but not in the least surprised - that it has found the Number One spot in the Student Experience Survey.”

The Union of Students has used this opportunity to highlight their role in providing a good student experience and the difficult position they now find themselves in. In a post on the Union blog entitled ‘Our Student Experience is #1. But For How Long?’, the Union drew attention to the shortcomings of its current funding model and suggested that cuts would need to be made to ensure the survival of the Union. The post states: “we’ve already lost a lot of staff, saved money on utilities, generated more footfall in our shops and bars. We don’t have enough resource in communications or representation to cut back on. We will have to cut the things which we do to make your student experience so good.”

Some of the highest scoring categories for UEA were “good social life”, “good community atmosphere” and “good environment on campus/around university”, showing that students rate the student experience outside of the classroom incredibly highly, as well as services provided by the Union.

Whatever the future for the Union budget, UEA is revelling in its current success. UEA pro-vice-chancellor Prof Nigel Norris summed up by saying: “our commitment to providing a gold-plated student experience is long-standing and ingrained. It began long before the concept became central to universities up and down the land, and has been rewarded by a consistent top 10 ranking in the National Student Survey. This latest endorsement has been made possible only by the hard work and creativity of our academics, support staff and, of course, the students themselves who never cease to inspire us.”

Issue 284

07/05/13

News

Lineup confirmed for Festival of Literature for Young People Hayden East Venue Editor UEA will host Norwich’s first ever Festival of Literature for Young People (FLY). The weeklong event, which runs from the 8 - 12 July, caters specifically to 11-17 year olds.

Seventeen per cent of young people aged 16-19 have reading levels lower than the average 11-year-old, according to recent studies. To combat this, FLY has gathered an eclectic line up of authors, from dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah to renowned writer Cathy Cassidy.

Festival producer Antoinette Moses, who lectures in Creative Writing at UEA said: “We are certain FLY offers the right mix of authors and activity because it has been created by its audience.”

She adds: “FLY is an interesting and innovative festival that combines everything that a university does with what a festival does, that’s to say it will be both fun and entertaining, and educational.”

Among the line up is also Charlie Higson, a UEA alumnus whose Young

Bond novels have proved hugely successful with younger readers.

Natalie Bailey, FLY festival director, explains why the event is so important to the region: “Norwich is already rich in festivals, including the prestigious autumn and spring literary festivals hosted by the university, but FLY has been created

Jealous fruit flies die young, shagged-out and impotent Philip Thomas News Reporter A study by scientists at the University of East Anglia indicated that male fruit flies who are in constant competition with mating rivals mate for longer and produce more offspring in early life.

However, the research recently published in the journal Evolution, also revealed that they die earlier as a consequence and are less able to mate later in life.

The study is the first to quantify the consequences of lifetime exposure to rivals and examined the behavior of the fruit fly species Drosophila Melanogaster.

Scientists said that correlations between reproduction and lifespan are common across the whole animal kingdom and could theoretically be applicable more generally – although it’s unknown whether a similar correlation occurs in humans.

The study was led by Prof Tracey Chapman from UEA’s school of Biological Sciences and Dr Amanda Bretman. Prof Chapman said: “We exposed males to

rivals throughout their lifetimes and found that while this caused them to mate for longer and have a higher reproductive output – these benefits disappeared early, after the third mating.

“The males took significantly fewer mating opportunities in later life and had significantly shorter lifespans than flies which had not been exposed to rivals.

Meanwhile those which had been kept on their own continued to mate into old age, accumulating more matings overall.”

At the end of the 78-day project, all of the male flies which had been exposed to rivals had been dead for at least four days.

But more than a quarter of those which had not been exposed to rivals were still alive.

Dr Bretman added: “If males die sooner in the wild, the early mating benefits seen in males exposed to competition may be more important than the benefits of living and mating for longer.”

“There is a great scope for further investigations into how relevant our experiment might be in representing the natural lifespan and potential tradeoffs between early and late survival and reproduction.”

because no major literary event for young people of this age group currently exists in the region.”

The arrival of the festival not only marks the 50th anniversary of UEA, but Norwich’s newly appointed status as the first UNESCO City of Literature in England.

Sex offender’s sentence reviewed Lara-Jayne Ellice News Editor Norfolk sex offender Gary Karn, 48, has had his jail sentence shortened by Norwich Crown Court, after a recent trial.

Despite sentencing guidelines stating that Karn should have been given up to four years in prison, he has been sentenced to 18 months for the sexual assault of two young girls, aged seven and eight.

Gary Karn was also found in possession of indecent images and one pornographic image of a child, which Judge Mark Lucraft took into account.

Judge Lucraft decided that a sentence exceeding 18 months would cause too much “hardship” for Karn’s wife and children, and that Karn was “clearly a man who has worked hard” to support his family. This decision came after a letter from Gary Karn’s wife was presented to the court, stating that if he were jailed, Karn would lose his job, and the family would lose their home.

The Attorney General’s office has until 22 May to refer the case to the Court of Appeal, where the sentence could be increased.

Comment

07/05/13

Issue 284

concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk

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Why Scotland cannot keep the sterling Robbie Wishart Comment Writer The Scottish independence referendum comes in September of next year. So what are the implications if the people say “Yes”?

George Osborne argues that they could not keep the pound in a currency union. Instead, an independent Scotland would be forced to make a decision to go for the Euro or create its own currency.

Up until recently, the Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has been very keen on the idea of joining the Eurozone.

However, recent economic woes would make this an unpopular move. So would Salmond propose a new currency? George Osborne argues that such a move would be a “very deep dive into unchartered waters” - and for once, he’s not wrong.

The pound, relative to other currencies is fairly strong, stronger than both the Euro and the Dollar. This has many benefits to us in the UK. When we go abroad, and buy other currencies, we tend to get more for our money.

Furthermore, we can import goods and services very cheaply. Without this, our clothes, food, cars and so forth, would be far more expensive.

If Scotland left the sterling, it would

mean abandoning this. Due to the Scottish economy being weaker than England in some respects, a Scottish currency would be likely to depreciate against the pound. Scottish people would find that their hard earned savings would fall, perhaps rapidly, to a small fraction

would start to become a serious problem.

Of course in the long run, it could have positive impacts too. A weaker currency would make Scottish exports more attractive to foreign countries, improving their balance of trade and increasing GDP. However would it be

with the rest of the United Kingdom and keeping the pound.

If Scotland is to have independent control of its finances, it must have independence from the Pound. A failure to do this would create a significant problem, one we have already seen across union.

The Eurozone crisis is a problem that divides the continent. Countries did not share the same fiscal ideals and controls. The different strategies led to the irresponsibility of some governments

“George Osborne argues that such a move would be a “very deep dive into unchartered waters” -

of their current worth. The money they earned would also not buy them as much as they were used to. Imports would come more expensive, and inflation

worth the economic instability of such a move?

However Mr Salmond hoped for a third way - by way of a currency union

being of great cost to the rest - leading to a collapse in confidence and the fear of insolvency bringing down the currency.

Currency unions can only work if a fiscal union exists too. If Scotland really does want independence, it will need those fiscal controls, and so must abandon Sterling. If independence is that important to the Scottish people it will have to make those sacrifices outlined above, but with the sacrifices being so large, the Scottish people will have to ask themselves: is independence worth it?

Why are we so outraged by nudity? Does offensive material have a time limit?

Rosie Yates Comment Writer As any of my flatmates will tell you, I love to be naked. Hence perhaps my response to the latest court appearance of Stephen Gough (aka ‘the Naked Rambler’) may be a little one-sided. Gough has already spent six years in prison, and was once rearrested less than sixty seconds after walking free naked.

Whilst there is no specific offence related to being naked in public, arrests generally fall under the charges of ‘breaching the peace’ and ‘outraging public decency’. Naked bodies shouldn’t be outrageous, and it seems absurd that a naked man simply walking down the street can be considered such an affront to peace.

For the sake of journalistic balance, I conducted an utterly unscientific survey on my peers’ opinions on public nakedness.

The responses were generally in the same vein as this one: ‘public nudity makes me uncomfortable but I don’t know why.’

Perhaps we should stop to think about why nakedness makes us feel this way.

We are used to seeing doctored images of near-naked ‘perfect’ bodies in advertising,

and relatively few people appear offended by these. However, we are simply not used to seeing ‘real’ naked bodies.

Surely we need to give this guy a break.

To put his jail time and multiple rearrests into perspective, it emerged recently that over 10,000 violent crimes were dealt with ‘informally’ by the police. If violent crimes can be dealt with without prosecution, surely a little bit of nakedness can be too.

If you are offended by the sight of naked rambler wandering down the road, perhaps just look away. Maybe even ask yourself why you are offended by the sight of a naked human being.

Emma Holbrook Comment Writer

With copies of Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead now gathering dust in various iTunes libraries, Margaret Thatcher returned to the news cycle last week to a comparably lesser degree, after it was announced that a series of posters of the Iron Lady would not be displayed in Westminster Tube Station.

CBS Outdoor deemed the satirical artwork, which depicted Thatcher as both Queen Victoria and the Virgin Mary, ‘insensitive’ considering the proximity to her funeral. Notwithstanding the fact that the posters were not in any way celebrating her death, there is something decidedly unsettling with the idea of an advertising company judging taste on behalf of the public. However, a Transport for London spokesman claimed that once her funeral was over, they would be ‘happy to consider them again’, which perhaps epitomises the handling of the entire Margaret Thatcher situation: is it timing, rather than content, which is considered so offensive?

For instance, candid jokes about

Thatcher were met with resounding laughter on 10 O’Clock Live, which was broadcast just a week after her funeral. It is somewhat hypocritical that something considered so outrageously distasteful the week before someone’s funeral, suddenly becomes acceptable the following week and this notion of respecting the deceased during the period between their death and burial seems a little out of place in an increasingly secular age.

Lyrically, songs such as Elvis Costello’s Tramp The Dirt Down were significantly more vicious than any song from the Wizard of Oz and this highlights a glaring double standard: paradoxically, offensive material is not deemed so when the target is actually alive to witness the criticism.

This does beg the question of whether material should be considered offensive if it has such a brief period of potency.

The family’s grief will undoubtedly not disappear after a mere fortnight so if corporations are to enforce standards on taste (which is, itself, highly problematic), they should at least have to be consistent.

There are times to be offended and political satire in a tube station is not one.

6 Comment Do libraries belong in the ‘Ancient History’ section? concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk

Jay Slayton-Joslin Comment Writer With an economy where arts are cut down more than Sean Bean in every role he plays, libraries are increasingly becoming under review for how effective they are. It makes sense that libraries are not the money making guarantee the economy needs, especially in an age when for a few pounds we can have epic novels downloaded onto our phones, but perhaps the cultural value they offer is more important than the money they don’t bring in.

University libraries are catered more towards a specific audience, which makes them much better than your average library, particularly ones in small towns.

Small town libraries often only have a small and general selection, which is fine for classics and bestsellers but can lack the true spirit of literary masterpieces

Issue 284

07/05/13

that have more specific addressees. As a result, small town libraries often suffer due to having a small audience and not enough of a variety of books to provide.

Of course, there are ways libraries fight this, such as counties having a system where books can be ordered and posted to each library for collection, such as the system in Buckinghamshire.

Some libraries try to get more involved in literary cultures by getting guest authors in, offering workshops and cafes. Yet it is the small town library that is in more of a danger than those at universities or in big cities.

In small towns it has been the job of the residents to raise funds, which seems shocking to think that residents of a town would have to pay to keep a place for others to learn and read for free open but it is unfortunately the harsh reality.

Though, surely there is only so many fundraising events that people can do, year after year, to fund the same library

without residents growing tiresome.

Unless it’s a big city, it seems unlikely that libraries can maintain the increasingly necessary funding. What’s left is the prospect of a shocking reality: a town without a library. It mean that the only places to go to sit down and read will be expensive coffee shops, which have no problem acquiring funds charging £3 for a plain black coffee.

Yet, the library for the general public has been suggested by some as an outdated format and perhaps the

best option is to have the books on a database, much like Amazon’s lend a book to a friend system in the USA, yet this may exclude people who need libraries the most, perhaps like the elderly citizens who rejoice at the rare occasion to the house and have the option in their immediate surroundings for a quiet place to sit down. There’s something less human about digital libraries, there’s no smell or physical sensation, a loss of libraries would be a loss indeed.

Has Luis Suarez bitten off Angola: 41 years and counting more than he can chew?

Jack Perkin Comment Writer

Saul Holmes Comment Writer As a football fan, I like Luis Suarez. But, then again, as a football fan I don’t like Luis Suarez at all. He’s an extremely contradictory figure, one moment graceful and skilled on the ball, the next petulant, stupid, aggressive and childish.

Since Suarez took a great chomp at the hammy arm of Branislav Ivaniovic everyone from Gary Lineker to David Cameron has had something to say on the matter. It has caused outrage, anger and demands for harsh punishment.

These cries for blood seem to have been answered in the form of a 10-match ban from the FA. Only the ban itself has caused further anger, with some saying that 10 matches is far too long.

Except, and let me state this as clearly as I can, it’s not too long at all. It isn’t even enough. I mean, if little Luis had taken a nibble out of some bloke in the street he would have been arrested, biting comes under the definition of assault and can result in Actual Bodily Harm. It’s a pretty serious offence.

So why, then, has Suarez not been arrested? He faced criminal charges for his previous misdemeanour, racially abusing Patrice Evra, and while racism

is a truly disgusting hate crime is it markedly worse than physical assault?

The whole drama has highlighted a wider problem with the world of football and the way we treat our sporting idols. We need to think long and hard about how football players are punished by their professional bodies, but footballers also need to be held to the same standards as ordinary people.

What makes the whole drama even more disappointing is that Suarez is clearly such a gifted player. He continually lets himself, his club and his sport down, and it pains me to say that I think he needs to be punished more harshly. It doesn’t matter what club you support, whether it is Liverpool or Norwich - football as a culture has a pretty negative reputation.

Players are seen as spoilt and cartoonish and fans stupid, aggressive and violent. If football is ever going to be viewed positively then this is exactly the kind of thing that needs to be cracked down on, and hard.

What makes this latest debacle, along with the racism scandal, so much worse than all of his other foul-mouthed, petulant and unsporting behaviour is that it is an actual crime, and he needs to be punished accordingly otherwise Suarez, along with the rest of the football society, will never learn.

It’s tempting to use a Shawshank Redemption cliché; in the late 1960s, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace – both convicted of separate armed robberies – arrived at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, otherwise known as Angola Prison.

But unlike Andy Defresne, who only spent two months in ‘the Hole’, Woodfox and Wallace have each spent 41 years in solitary confinement. In 1972, they – along with a third man, Robert King – were accused of the murder of Prison Officer Brent Miller, an accusation which has since been undermined by suggestions that their fellow inmates “But unlike Andy Defresne, who only spent two months in ‘the Hole’, Woodfox and Wallace have each spent 41 years in

were bribed to testify against the “Angola Three”.

Robert King was released in 2001, after 29 years in the euphemisticallynamed “Closed Cell Restriction Units” at Angola. He is working with Amnesty International to have both Alfred Woodfox and Herman Wallace released, despite previous legal rulings that their convictions should be over-turned. “The ripples in the pond are increasing”, King has said, “and we need to see some waves…and these are the things that

keep me going”.

This “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment” (ostensibly outlawed in the U.S.A.) is justified for this reason: in the early-1970s, Woodfox, Wallace, and King were instrumental in establishing the Black Panther Party (BPP) in Angola.

They can best be described by a phrase we’ve almost forgotten existed in what we like to call ‘the West’; they are political prisoners.

In 2008, Burl Cain – the thoroughly Christian Warden of Angola – said that if Woodfox and Wallace were released, “I would have me all kinds of problems, more than I could stand, and I would have the blacks chasing after them”.

When placed alongside the noble words of Robert King, this flagrant bigotry only seems to increase one’s sense of injustice for these men, the “Angola Two”, in “the land of free”.

Global

07/05/13

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concrete.global@uea.ac.uk

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Boston bombings hit too close to home Pete Cutler Global writer My family was caught in the Boston terror attacks. I never thought I would ever be so involved with something so terrible. The last time something even close happened was 9/11. A family friend worked in the South Tower, on the 82nd floor, which got evacuated just before the plane hit. We were in Eritrea and had just had the most amazing day travelling around our new home. I was 10 and couldn’t really grasp the severity of what had happened. We had no running water so we had to use the bathroom of a hotel around the corner.

My older brother and I passed a group of ex-pats staring in disbelief at a cloud of smoke on a television screen in the lobby.

My Dad stopped; we kept walking. We didn’t know but we had just seen the first tower fall.

Later, after my father had got to grips with what had happened we went back to an empty house because nothing had arrived from Uganda yet. We slept on mats and ate all of our meals at that hotel and various restaurants nearby. Now that I’m older I can sort of understand what my dad was feeling as he muttered “Oh my god, oh my god” under his breath, listening to the news on the pre-historic silver radio he used to take with him everywhere. He paced up and down the hallway, each footstep echoing in the

emptiness. The four of us sat with our mum as she tried to explain to us what had just happened. I can only imagine what they must have been thinking.

When something tragic happens, like the bombs in Boston, I feel as empty as our home in Eritrea. Everything in my mind went blank; my family were the sole occupants of my thoughts as I struggled to find out if they had survived.

My uncle was running the marathon so his family were spread out along the route to encourage him along. His nephew, my cousin, was 100 feet from the first explosion. My other cousins were dotted along the course, miles away from the blasts. Although I’ve never lived there, I feel a connection to the US. I’ve gone to Maine every summer since I was born and to think something so terrible happened so close to my friends and family is terrifying.

It’s interesting having to live this experience here. I spent every waking second juggling between Facebook chat with my cousin in Boston, Twitter for updates, and the BBC for minute-tominute reports. It’s unbelievable to think how connected we all are nowadays. That, and writing this, have helped me come to grips with it all. I hope they catch the terrorists who committed these atrocious crimes.

Why do Americans seem to love celebrating death? What gives you the right, no matter what harm someone

Adidas agree to pay up Benjamin Brown Global writer Students, workers and anti-sweatshop activists have scored a major victory against Adidas, who have agreed to pay $1.8 million in legally owed severance pay to 2,800 former workers at PT Kizone factory in Indonesia, after two years of campaigning.

PT Kizone factory closed after its owner fled in 2011, leaving workers, who had been earning as little as 34p an hour, unemployed. Adidas, whose profits reached $881 million in 2012, had until now refused to pay redundancy money.

Despite being the biggest buyer from the factory, it continued to deny responsibility, even as other buyers contributed to a fund to compensate workers.

An international ‘badidas’ campaign, spearheaded in the UK by People & Planet, War on Want and Labour Behind the Label, produced a 50,000 signature petition, a social media storm, and protests outside stores nationally and internationally. In the USA, several

universities have cut corporate ties with Adidas over the issue after pressure from students. Students from UEA have twice participated in protests in London outside Adidas and Footlocker stores.

The victory follows on from previous campaign success in 2008, when the threat of student boycotts in US and Europe led Fruit of the Loom to re-hire, on improved pay, 1,800 garment workers in Honduras.

The news comes as sweatshops return to the public agenda, with the recent collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh, killing nearly 400 people, and the role of western companies under increased scrutiny for allegedly incentivising cost-cutting and weak regulations.

The issue was first brought to attention by a report from the Worker’s Rights Consortium (WRC), an independent labour organisation that monitors supply chains for workers rights abuses. UEA People & Planet, who last year organised the country’s largest naked protest against sweatshop conditions, are currently campaigning for UEA to sign up to the WRC. For more information, visit: www. facebook.com/SweatshopFreeUea

caused you? When Osama Bin Laden was killed it was like the Messiah had returned in America. And yet they claim to be “the driving force for peace and democracy”, along with all the other stuff you hear brainwashed youths regurgitate when they get interviewed. “We are just relieved” is what one girl said after the Boston suspect was apprehended. I was relieved, too. But I didn’t run through

the streets of Norwich (Boston) chanting “USA USA USA!” at the ambulance carrying the barely-alive 19-year-old boy to hospital. How is that a sign of relief? It angers me that none of them realise that people like me, who live abroad, take the blame for all the noise they make. When the US invaded Iraq, my family received death-threats. And I am supposed to be a proud American. It’s almost funny.

Mayday mayhem Ella Gilbert Global editor May first is symbolic in many ways. As well as representing the beginning of spring, it is International Workers’ Day, prompting demonstrations of solidarity across the world every year. This week was no different, with demonstrations taking place in the North America, Asia and Europe.

Thousands of people took to the streets of cities like Bologna, Napoli and Madrid to protest against austerity measures and record levels of unemployment throughout Europe, which stands at 27% in Spain.

Some demonstrations ended with frustration turning to violence, such as in Istanbul, where police used teargas and watercannon against protesters, who were said to have thrown stones and Molotov cocktails at police lines.

Public and private sector strikes were called in Athens, bringing services like hospitals and banks to a standstill, and causing major disruption to transport services.

Similar scenes were seen in Seattle,

Flikr: Fashion Bigot

the location of the 1999 ‘Battle of Seattle’ anti-globalisation demonstrations against the World Trade Organisation.

Peaceful rallies of trades unions, students and labour activists marched throughout the day, but a small “nonpermitted” demonstration caused damage to property during the evening, after the march.

Police were quick to dispel the situation, with mayor Mike McGinn justifying their response by connecting the situation to the Boston bombings earlier this month, which is still fresh in the minds of many Americans.

The collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh earlier this week sparked May Day protests in Dhaka, where demonstrators demanded factory owners be held to account for the disaster which killed 610 people and injured around 2500.

May Day is a celebration of the strength and solidarity of workers all over the world, and many marches showed exactly that. The sporadic violence that erupted illustrated the anger and frustration felt by workers in exploitative situations such as in Dhaka, where workers were paid just £32 a month.

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concrete.features@uea.ac.uk

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Features

How can we brand “Real Beauty”?

Features Editor Bridie Wilkinson looks at Dove’s new viral video “Real Beauty Sketches” and the issues that come from marketing “Real Beauty”.

Dove

You wouldn’t really expect the FBI to be associated with a toiletries company.

But that’s the premise of Dove’s recent viral hit, a film titled “Real Beauty Sketches”. The video opens with a close up of a FBI forensic artist, whose sixteen years of experience has given him a talent for translating description into portraiture. His talent is put to the test when the artist finds himself hidden behind a curtain in a large empty room.

He has been brought to blind-draw a number of random women who come in and describe themselves. He is given descriptions of “protruding chin” “fat, round face” and “big forehead”, using them to create his imagined image of them. So far, so simple. However, Dove has a trick up their sleeve. We are introduced to a stranger who enters the room once the woman leaves. The stranger, having briefly met the woman beforehand, immediately contrast the descriptions heard before. “Nice thin chin” “cute nose” and “eyes that light up when she smiles” are what the artist now

uses for inspiration. The rousing finale of the video comes when the women are faced with these two separate portraits.

As the music swells and the camera zooms in on their faces, the woman are asked, “do you think you’re more beautiful than you say?”

The video garnered 29.4 million views in the first 10 days of being online. It’s clear that an audience has responded to its message of self-realisation and acceptance. The video is a reminder of our daily issues with our appearance and perception; challenging our doubts and lifting our spirits. It is something that’s expected from a brand who, since launching their Campaign for Natural Beauty in 2004, have always been about body positivity. We are reminded of this when the Dove logo appears after the finale reveal, a proud stamp of approval from the brand. The video may come across as a social experiment, but if we take a closer look, it is revealed to be a very cleverly planned marketing strategy.

The industry that Dove is in thrives on the self-consciousness of its market.

Beauty and cosmetics encourage us to invest hundreds of pounds into our appearance, attempting to control the image that we present to the world.

Dove’s way to separate themselves from its competition is to craft itself a seemingly unique market. Their advertising favours carefully chosen language, such as “real” and “natural”, targeting the everyday woman. In doing this, they appeal to a universal audienceafter all, aren’t we all real people?

By creating a universal appeal for their brand, it becomes uncomfortable to watch Dove attempt to cast the role of the ‘real woman’ in the “Real Beauty Sketches”. The women we watch are meant to be representations of ourselves, relatable and familiar to the audience. But with their healthy, sunkissed appearance and naturally pretty features, it’s clear that Dove are pursuing a version of their audience that fits in with their branding.

The carefully crafting imaging of their

market is further complicated when compared to other brands owned by Dove’s home company, Unilever. The company’s marketing for Axe, their male personal care brand, favours hyper sexualised and objectifying adverts. This is completely opposite to the message we are given from the “Real Beauty Sketches”. An inconsistent message from Unilever ruins the authenticity of Dove’s marketing. The concept appears to have been thought up for advertisement rather than on morals.

When Dove brings in the phrase “Real Beauty” into the world of advertising, the phrase loses all its meaning.

“Real Beauty” is no longer something natural; it’s a carefully fabricated image, created to persuade a well-researched demographic to buy the company’s products. Despite their best attempts to hide it, the “Real Beauty Sketches” are a result of this sort of marketing. The film is definitely thought provoking. Just not only for the reasons that Dove are hoping for.

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A guide to UEA’s Annual Fund Features writer Stephanie Watson tells all about UEA’s Annual Fund caller campaign and why you should get involved.

WorldNomads.com

What is the Annual Fund?

The Annual Fund is run by the UEA Development Office. It was set up in the 1990s in response to a number of charitable donations, and has continued to grow ever since. As part of the Annual Fund there is a Call Campaign that takes place each year.

What is the phone call all about?

A team of student callers gets in touch with alumni each year, beginning three years after graduation, for a number of reasons: to update details, to ask alumni about their time at UEA and to raise awareness of, and donations for, a number of projects. The Call Campaign is not only a crucial part of the Annual Fund, raising around £100,000 every year, but it is a positive experience for the caller (who hears first-hand about what UEA used to be like and the career paths alumni have taken since) and the alumnus (who receives information about current events at UEA).

What do I get fundraising?

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Briefly: loads! While our tuition fees cover basic course costs, they cannot possibly cover everything we get to enjoy as students. ‘Student Experience’ is just one area that sits under the Annual Fund umbrella and its purpose is to support projects that enhance our time at UEA. The massive refurbishment of the library? It was part-funded by the Annual Fund. The School of Mathematics Learning Resource Centre?

You guessed it. The yoU-tEAch bursary payments? Yep - and that’s just the start. The Annual Fund has supported projects across the whole of UEA, from conferences, scholarships, trips and Union events. Students from the School of Nursing have had the opportunity to complete clinical placements in Malawi.

The School of Biological Sciences were able to send a team of undergraduate students to the iGEM Competition.

Sudents in the School of Chemistry have been able to engage more readily during their contact time through the purchase

of handheld whiteboard and handsets.

PSI students have received funding for transport and accommodation for their internships in Brussels. If you keep an eye out around campus, some of the projects which have received support from the Annual Fund have a plaque to say so.

As well as enhancing your university experience, during the 2012/13 Campaign student callers have been raising awareness for a number of different causes. ‘Research Excellence’, which will provide support to important work, specifically in climate change and medical research, ‘The Difference Scholarships’ for undergraduate and postgraduate students, which, in celebration of UEA’s 50th anniversary this September, will award £3,000 per annum (for up to three years) to a number of talented students, the ‘Earlham Hall Campaign’, to allow a major redevelopment of the Earlham Hall outbuildings for the School of Law, and ‘Where the Need is Greatest’, for unrestricted gifts that allow the University to be more flexible in where

the money is directed.

Who decides where the ‘Student Experience’ money goes?

A Disbursement Panel, comprising UEA alumni, UEA representatives and a member of the UUEAS committee, meet to discuss which projects they would like to support.

Why should I donate?

The more facilities and opportunities UEA can support, the higher its reputation will be, lending prestige to the degree you will already have. Plus, there’s the warm, fuzzy feeling of having done something positive!

Where can I find more info?

There is more information available online at www.uea.ac.uk/annualfund. If you want to volunteer your time to the Annual Fund, visit www.employability.uea.ac.uk to find out how to become a student caller and help out with the campaign.

10 Environment GM salmon farmed in Panama EU to ban bee concrete.environment@uea.ac.uk

Jake Strong Jones Envrionment Writer Genetically modified (GM) crops have been on supermarket shelves for nearly 20 years. What is newer, and still awaiting approval, are GM animals. An American company, AquaBounty, has developed a salmon incorporating growth genes from a Chinook salmon and a seal eel. These fish grow twice as fast as farmed salmon: they are brought to market size in 18 months instead of 30.

There are two major issues concerning GM products which should be considered.

The first is whether they will have a damaging effect on ecosystems. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year published a study concluding that AquaBounty’s Panamanian salmon farm had sufficient measures in place to prevent its salmon escaping. If they did reach the ocean, there are fears the modified fish would out-compete wild Atlantic salmon due to their more rapid growth. However, the FDA concluded that the water temperature surrounding the farm is high enough to stop the fish reaching open water even in the case of an escape.

The second issue relates to whether eating the fish will affect human health.

One major aspect of this is the risk of introducing allergens by incorporating genes from different organisms. Having

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reviewed AquaBounty’s GM salmon, the FDA considers it to be no more dangerous to eat than unmodified Atlantic salmon.

Other health risks are less well known, typically due to a lack of longterm studies concerning the effects of GM foods on people’s health. In the US, this can be traced back to the early days of GM crops, where the first Bush administration concluded that, because GM seeds were “substantially equivalent” to non-GM seeds, there would be no special government tests on the safety of the crops. Since then, large agribusiness companies have been given licenses to pre-approve any studies or results relating to their GM crops, effectively allowing the censorship of any research detrimental to their image.

More information about the effects of GM foods is difficult to come by, as in the past 14 years, the European Union has only approved the cultivation of two

GM crops for human consumption. The possibility of approving more has been pushed back to 2014 by the European Commission; a major reason is the lack of reliable information on the effects of GM crops on the environment and consumers.

This highlights the problem at hand, however, in that much of the knowledge needed for approval is attained from the US, where censorship leaves studies suspect. Without faith in the information that the EU requires prior to greater approval of GM foodstuffs, there will continue to be a lack of progress. For any progress at all, more tests must be carried out and their results published regardless of their impact on businesses. Without rigorous and open research, we run the risk of sowing the seeds of experiencing long term harm in an ecosystem modified in ways we hoped to avoid.

Unburnable carbon: fossil fuels could cause stock market crash Peter Sheehan Environment Editor A report released by Carbon Tracker and the London School of Economics (LSE), Unburnable Carbon, has found that greenhouse gas reduction targets mean that the “majority” of the world’s fossil fuel reserves are unburnable, rendering them financially worthless. The carbon stored in available fossil fuels is enough to push us far over the limit necessary to avoid dangerous climate change.

The report warns that the economic risks of this are considerable. Trillions of dollars are currently invested in companies

that extract coal, oil and natural gas. What is more, these companies continue to invest in uncovering yet more reserves.

The high value of these fuels is such that they are seen as a safe bet and will lead to guaranteed returns.

In the future, greenhouse gas reduction targets will place strict limits on the amount of carbon dioxide that economies can produce. In turn, this restricts the amount of fossil fuels that can be burnt. Unburnable Carbon puts some numbers on this link: 80% of currently available fossil fuels will have to remain in the ground.

This raises a problem for extraction companies and their investors. There is

nothing intrinsically valuable about fossil fuels. Their value is entirely dependent on the confidence that they can be burnt by a fuel-hungry economy. In a low-carbon future, the resources that underpin the current wealth of extraction companies will be valueless. There is a growing realisation, of which Unburnable Carbon is a part, that a wholesale devaluation of fossil fuels could lead to a massive stock market crash. The 2008 banking crash demonstrated what can happen when markets ignore accumulating risk, and we are still living with the consequences.

Coal, oil and gas are the sub-prime assets of future decades, massively overvalued by an economy that, ultimately, cannot use them.

However, the report’s authors do not say that this is inevitable. They believe that investors need to challenge companies that insist on spending money on finding new reserves; that we need to take a more long-term approach to investment; and that companies should disclose the amount of carbon stored in their reserves. Most importantly, Unburnable Carbon says that we need to start changing our strategy now.

pesticides

Amelia Edwards Environment Writer The European Commission has placed a ban on neonicotinoid chemicals, which have been linked to bee deaths by researchers. This decision comes after public action against neonicotinoids, including protests and a petition of over three million signatures.

The ban is not a complete: it will not apply to crops non-attractive to bees, or to winter cereals, and it lasts for two years.

Fifteen countries voted in favour of the ban. Eight countries, including the UK, voted against the ban, while four abstained.

Neonicotinoids have been in use since 1991 and are now used extensively in farming. With bee populations around the world declining over the last ten years, neonicotinoids have been the subject of a number of studies. Unfortunately there has been no overall conclusion on neonicotinoids’ role in bee decline.

There is some debate over the ban on neonicotinoids, with a number of experts, as well as the UK government, claiming that neonicotinoids are not the reason for the decline in bee health. Researchers such as Dr Julian Little claim that the bee decline is a result of varroa, a parasitic mite which spreads viral infections to bees.

Varroa mites are not present in Australia, where the bee populations remain stable.

Nonetheless there is a large body of evidence which points to neonicotinoids affecting bee behaviour and memory.

Studies have shown that bees exposed to neonicotinoids suffered a reduced ability to learn and remember. In addition, the European Food Safety Agency published a report in January which concluded that neonicotinoids posed a “high acute risk” to pollinators such as honeybees.

While it is still uncertain whether neonicotinoids are leading to the decline in the bee population, the events leading up to this decision show that there is strong public interest in saving the bees, and quickly.

Science & Tech 11 Stem cell research benefits two-year-old girl 07/05/13

Dominic Burchnall Science editor Two year old Hannah Warren has recently become the youngest person ever to benefit from stem cell research, when doctors recently performed an experimental procedure to give her a new windpipe.

Hannah was born with a very rare congenital defect, caused by the overlapping effect of various lack of development in her neck and resulted in her being born without a windpipe or trachea.

Sadly, as you might expect from such a severe mutation, the survivability rate is very low, less than 1%. For all of her short life, Hannah had been hooked up to respiratory equipment in a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, with doctors not expecting her to live past the age of six.

However, her father managed to track down Dr Paolo Macchiarini, an expert

By now, we have all heard the scares that have been caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA, and the newer VRSA, and the threats they pose due to lack of alternate treatments in cases of infection.

Many species of the Staphylococcus genus are commonly found as part of the micro biome of bacteria that are present in every human in the world.

However, if the general population of native bacteria falls too low, some species take advantage, multiplying and causing an infection known as staph. Since they are immune to the effects of typical drugs, they can be considerably more dangerous, and have sparked a race to try and discover new antibiotics which the bacteria have not yet developed immunity towards. However, over time, newer strains may arise which could overcome those treatments as well.

However, one group of researchers is trying to beat the bacteria at their own game. Doctors in Pennsylvania, USA, have been experimenting with the

concrete.science@uea.ac.uk

in regenerative medicine, and arrange for her to be transferred to Children’s Hospital, Illinois, for the surgery.

Using cell culturing techniques, the surgeons were able to perform an experimental procedure to generate a new windpipe for Hannah. It involved obtaining a sample of the young girls’ stem cells from her bone marrow, and growing them in culture in a bioreactor, which maintains the correct internal conditions to allow the cells to multiply without them clumping together.

Constructing an underlying structure out of plastic nanofibres, the cells adhered to the scaffold and multiplied.

The entire construct was then cut to shape for the operation.

Drs Macchiarini and Mark Holterman undertook a gruelling nine-hour operation to transplant the artificial throat into the toddler. These tracheal transplants are rarely performed, and the effects of grown organs are still not fully understood. Luckily though,

Infectious Bacterial Treatments Julie Bishop Science Writer

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efficacy of treating Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) bacteria with predatory bacteria which attack and feed off the pathogenic bacteria. The two bacterial species currently under scrutiny are of the species Bdellovibrio and Micavibrio.

While not harmful to humans or other multicellular life, their natural life cycle involves seeking out and attaching themselves to the exterior of bacteria such as Staphylococcus, before invading and killing the host. Who’d have thought germs could get ill?

The study aimed to determine whether or not the alterations in the structure of MDR bacteria, which prevent traditional antibiotics from binding and taking effect, would impact on the ability of Bdellovibrio and Micavibrio to detect and infiltrate them.

By growing both predator and prey bacteria together in culture, with MRD bacteria in one sample and drug vulnerable bacteria in the other, and comparing the numbers of surviving staph bacteria, researchers were able to check for any resistance. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to pose any challenges for the invaders, and both populations of infectious bacteria were decimated.

The success of this study has the potential to open up new areas of research into the use of bacteriophage micro-organisms as disease combatants, with the added advantage over drugs that as the prey evolves to outmanoeuvre the predator, the predator can evolve to catch up with the prey, without needing outside tinkering from us. Maybe one day, you’ll end up visiting your GP and asking for an infection to combat your infection.

three weeks later it appears to have been successful. Due to the cells in the new tissue having originally come from Hannah herself, there is no chance of her body rejecting them, eliminating the need for immunosuppressant drugs, and increasing her chances of a normal life.

While it was successful, operations of this type are still experimental, and with good reason. Permission for operating on such a young child in this way was only obtained due to the lack of options and her slim chances of survival without it. Research is still on-going into better techniques for growing more complex cell patterns and finding more suitable growing scaffolds. In spite of the transplanted windpipe being made deliberately oversized, Hannah will need successive alterations over time, and long assessment before it is known if she will be able to eat and speak without aid. But for now at least, both her, and her parents, can at last breathe easily.

Age of augmented reality Ian Roberts Science Writer The idea of technologically aided superstrength in movies is well established, such as in the recent Iron Man 3, and the upcoming Elysium in August, where Matt Damon plays a soldier with a surgically grafted exoskeleton.

A lot of us have probably day dreamed that we could use something like that. But some students at the University of Pennsylvania have gone a little further than daydreaming, and developed the Titan Arm. This arm is constructed from 38 custom tooled aluminium components designed by the students themselves, and was shaped and built over 300 hours of machine time.

Incorporating joint sensors

Titan Arm blog.

and a back plate for support and stability, the Titan Arm allows its fairly slender operator to bicep curl a not unimpressive 40 lbs (18 kgs).

While there are certainly stronger and more powerful exoskeletal suits in development, such as the XOS2 by Raytheon, what makes this design so unique is that it is completely untethered.

Whereas the XOS2 needs to be joined permanently to a main power supply, restricting its range, the Titan Arm draws power from a 5 Volt battery, which can work for 40 minutes per 2 hours of charging.

The student team behind the design never intended for it to be used to punch through walls however, and envision the design being developed for therapeutic and rehabilitory use, for those who are undergoing physiotherapy or who experience joint pain or muscle wasting.

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concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk

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Travel

07/05/13

The Charm of Vietnam the horrors of the American and French wars, including deformed foetuses showing the effects of US chemical defoliants and the notorious ‘tiger

Jessica Crisp Travel Writer

cages.’

Pedal past the Notre Dame Cathedral and General Post Office, regal remnants of French architecture, before

Given the choice, most travellers would pick the colonial splendour and lethargic pace of Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, over the modern and bustling Ho Chi Minh City. But the charm of Vietnam is not lost in this eclectic, energetic mix of American, Chinese and French culture.

With rooms costing less than the price of a glossy magazine, Ho Chi Minh City is ideal for travellers on any budget.

The best way to see the city is to hire a bicycle or, if you’re brave enough to tackle the lawless roads, a moped.

Cruise wide, tree speckled boulevards and watch the paradox of suited businessmen grabbing their morning drink from a street stalled manned by women donning conical hats.

For a dose of history, head to the War Remnants Museum which displays

wandering through timeless alleys to ancient pagodas and pulsating markets.

Stop at a rickety wooden hut for a bowl of pho while perusing vibrant silks and aromatic spices. Get lost in the scrum of Ben Thanh Market where you can bag bargain tailor made clothing.

Although it originated in the North, catch a water puppet show at the War Remnants Museum – a skilful and imaginative show unique to Vietnam. In this thronging metropolis, Indian, Italian and Brazilian restaurants are at home among the sushi bars and teahouses.

But forego these in favour of Huong Lai, a traditional Vietnamese restaurant run by people from disadvantaged families of former street children.

Ho Chi Minh City is where an urban maze knits seamlessly together with humble traditions, simplicity meets frustration and the present collides boisterously with the past. But herein lies its beauty; in its mystery.

London in the Springtime Polly Grice Travel Writer With the nicer weather finally here and exams soon to be over, now is the perfect time to take a mini-break and recharge your batteries. Megabus will take you from campus down to London Victoria for under £5 and there’s never been a better time to enjoy the capital.

London is famed for its green spaces, and although it’s hard to narrow it down

to just one, Greenwich Park offers the best views of the city. The home of the Olympic Equestrian events, the view from the observatory at the top Greenwich Park is better than any other in the city, a photographer’s paradise, even if it is a bit of a steep climb to the top. The perfect place to take a picnic, watch the world go by and enjoy the scenery.

If you prefer to be more active, you’re never too old for London Zoo. Just outside Regent’s Park, the zoo just opened a £3.6m enclosure for their

Sumantran Tigers, allowing for a more up-close and personal big cat experience.

Although it can be an expensive day out, there are discounted tickets available for students and you can save a few pounds by booking online too.

London is known for its art, but not all masterpieces are found inside a gallery.

While some of Banksy’s works have been torn down or painted over, there are still a lot left in-situ, which make the perfect street art tour. You can pay to do guided trips like this, or you can just use the

internet and do it yourself. The ‘Falling Shopper’ in Mayfair is a particular highlight, hidden down an alleyway behind a pub just a stone’s throw away from the Ritz and notorious celeb-haunt Nobu.

After revising hard, it’s definitely time for a break and there’s tons to do in the capital, just don’t spend your whole weekend on the Tube. Come above ground, go for a walk and discover there’s much more to do in London this Spring than you might think.

Flikr: Alexandre Moreau

Lifestyle Where there is tea, there is hope 07/05/13

Maddy Hutt Lifestyle writer The art of tea drinking has never been so popular and an art it truly has become.

Though we can lay no claim to producing this fine plant, we are one of the top tea consumers in the world and it is engrained in our history from when we began smuggling tea plants from China in the 1840s. Initially a drink for members of the aristocracy, it is now enjoyed by those from all walks of life. Whether you prefer to curl up on the sofa with a brew or take a trip to a tearoom with friends, Norwich has the answer to all of your tea drinking needs.

Our high streets are teeming with coffee shops but it seems that we are now beginning to favour the leaf over the bean as more and more tearooms are popping up around the country. The most eclectic of Norwich’s tearooms is Biddy’s on Lower Goat Lane. This delightful place boasts an array of locally made pies and cupcakes to accompany the tea of your choice served

in traditional pots and cups. Here you can enjoy the full monty of sandwiches, scones, cake and tea in the bustling tearoom upstairs or sit amidst the antique furnishings with a teacup of carrot cake.

The Assembly House on Theatre Street offers perhaps the most traditional of afternoon teas in Norwich. The tea purists among you will be happy to know that all of

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their teas, from the decaffeinated Roobois to their fruity blends, are served loose leaf with free refills and you can also indulge in extra sandwiches free of charge! Their afternoon tea is a treat at £16 but money well spent for the beautiful setting and excellent attention to detail.

For tea on the go and the lowest price in the city, pop into Norwich market where

Flickr: Stephanie Bond

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an energising cuppa will cost you no more than a pound, though if your thirst has still not been quenched, the city has some great shops where you can pick up your favourite blend and try it at home, or take in a flask to university.

There is of course nothing wrong with your supermarket teabag but for flavours of a more exotic nature and your choice of quantity, head to Wilkinson’s tea and coffee merchants on Lobster Lane. The aromas of coffee and tea fill your nostrils the instant the door opens into this dinky shop with barrel upon barrel of tea on display. The owners will point you in the right direction for your preference of blend and there really is something for everyone here. In the interest of balance, it must be noted that the coffee here is very good as well, for those who favour the bean.

Just when you thought there could be nothing more for Norwich to offer the avid tea fan, a must see for anyone interested in the history of the pot is the world’s largest teapot and largest collection of teapots currently housed in the Castle Museum in the centre of town.

Are we networking too much?

Kelly York Lifestyle writer Instagram’s official figures cite 100 million users who are active at least once per month and an average of 40 million uploaded pictures per day. Twitter boasts 115 million monthly users and an average of 58 million tweets per day. Social media is becoming a fully integrated part of our lifestyle and maybe it’s time to question; is there such thing as a ‘private life’ any more? Where are the lines between ‘public’ and ‘private’ drawn?

As a student, it’s not only your best friend’s mum seeing that dodgy picture of you after one too many last Saturday at the LCR that you have to worry about.

Online researcher Careerbuilder released a survey showing 45% of employers used social media to run additional checks on candidates, and of that percentage 53% of employers turned down job candidates for “posting provocative or inappropriate photographs or information.”

Employers don’t just focus on the negative though, keeping your private life private (or at least under strict privacy settings) can aid a future career. Careerbuilder found that 50% of employers hired a candidate after finding “ [a candidate’s] profile provided a good feel for the candidate’s personality and fit.” Social media can be blessing or a curse, depending on the level of digression shown by each individual. Sacrificing a certain amount of privacy could improve

prospects when it comes to networking, an invaluable part of a successful career.

According to Guardian columnist Charles Arthur, once a picture or text post is on the internet, it’s nearly impossible to permanently delete it. Earlier this month he published an article explaining the difficulty with permanently deleting yourself, and your posts, from the internet.

Legally, online privacy is proving a troublesome topic, most recently within the case of Youth Crime Commissioner Paris Brown, whose racist and homophobic

Flickr: Ian Britton

tweets resulted in her stepping down from her responsibilities. Part of Brown’s response to allegations of irresponsible behaviour revealed the practise of something akin to ‘character inflation’. Brown stated, “If I’m guilty of anything it’s showing off and wildly exaggerating on Twitter.” Brown highlights a key development of social media, that of a constant pressure to perform and conform.

Social media dependency is something we have to come to terms with, and despite the evidence that its main purpose is to keep us connected with ‘that boy you sat

next to once in primary school’, Professor in Political Science at the University of Copenhagen Jens Hoff believes that Facebook and other similar sights aid our social lives. Hoff describes Facebook as “a kind of social calendar,” useful for keeping in contact with a large network of friends and keeping up to date with the latest events and news.

Social Media raises the uncomfortable question: would Robert Frost still have taken the road less travelled if it didn’t have a strong wifi connection?

14

Lifestyle Student houses: stay secure this summer concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk

Chloe Cran Lifestyle writer Great news, summer is coming! However, as the vast majority of students will be leaving their Norwich homes behind for at least a few weeks, if not for the whole holiday, there is one major issue to consider: summer security.

Whilst Norwich has a very low crime rate as a city, the Norfolk constabulary website rather ominously warns that student houses are a top target for crime. This is accompanied by the rather worrying statistic that one in three student houses fall victim to some kind of crime. An interesting statistic featured on the Norfolk police force’s website is that students own more expensive consumer goods per head than the rest of the population, making us an obvious target. So that’s where everyone’s loan is going…

There’s no need to fear though, as there are a number of ways to ensure that when you return to Norwich, your house is exactly how you left it, or if you are just moving in, how you would want to find it.

A seemingly very obvious tip for keeping

Issue 284

07/05/13

your home secure over the summer is to make sure you lock all your windows and doors! Whilst it’s lovely to let the summer breeze roll in… you don’t really want your much loved TV to be rolled out.

If by any chance you have a burglar alarm, it might just be a good idea to use it! For some first years that might be leaving behind valuables in your student accommodation to collect at a later date, double check if you’ve locked your door!

It sounds obvious, but it’s the easiest mistake to make. Whilst there is security at UEA, they can’t be everywhere at once, and your parents might not take kindly to driving an empty car all the way back home. Speaking of valuable items, make sure you keep them out of sight if you are going to be away for a long time. This way you’re not advertising the fact that you have things worth taking.

Another good way of making sure your home is safe is to make friends with the neighbours! Whilst the lady next door may be slightly resentful of you drunkenly trying to let yourself in through her front door every other Saturday night, if she’s here all summer then she can keep an eye on your home and make sure you have no

Homemade lemonade Amy Osterloh Lifestyle writer Ingredients: • 4 lemons • 150g sugar (golden caster is best but others will also do) • 1-2 litres still or sparkling water • (all quantities adjusted to taste) Method: 1. Cut the lemons into quarters and put them into a food processor (waxed lemons will need to be peeled first).

If you don’t have a food processor, squeeze the lemons instead.

2. Strain the resulting liquid to extract the fruit juice.

Flickr: Troy Tolley

3. Add 150g sugar (those with a sweet tooth will probably have to add more) to the lemon juice. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.

4. Dilute with water to the required strength.

5. Put in the fridge and serve chilled.

Different flavours: Orangeade: Make with oranges instead of lemons.

Pink lemonade: Add a couple of raspberries to the food processor along with the lemons.

Add gin or vodka to make an alcoholic version.

unwelcome guests. The same is true for your landlord who most probably lives in the local area, and will often check on their properties over the summer. Whilst you and your housemates may have very different plans this summer, it’s important for security reasons to know who is coming in and out of your house. That way

if the house mascot has been mysteriously moved you’ll know whether or not a crime has been committed.

Therefore, although we are lucky to study in such a safe city, crime unfortunately happens everywhere, so make sure you’re not a victim! Nothing ruins an afternoon by the pool like a phone call from the police.

Flickr: Alex Murphy

Summer potato salad Emily Fedorowycz Lifestyle writer Ingredients: • 5 thick strips bacon • 1 large red or yellow onion, chopped • Salt • 2 apples, peeled, cored and diced • 4 small potatoes quartered • 4 green onions, thinly sliced, including the greens • 2 tbsp olive oil • 1 tbsp vinegar • 1 tbsp mustard • 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried

Adapted from BBC Good Food Method: 1. Combine the potatoes and enough cold water to cover by a couple of inches in a large saucepan. Add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a

Flickr: Jem Stone

boil, lower the heat, and cover the pan. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Drain well.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, cook the bacon in a heavy-based skillet over medium heat. Once cooked, remove the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Reserve the bacon fat in the pan. Once the bacon is cool, chop it.

3. Cook the onion in the fat in the pan on medium heat, until softened and just starting to brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove the onion from the pan to a large bowl, set aside. Add the chopped apple to the bowl.

4. Add the potatoes and chopped bacon to the onions and apple. Add the green onions, olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and thyme. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sport

07/05/13

Issue 284

concrete.sport@hotmail.co.uk

15

Meet the new sports editors for 2013/2014

Charlie Savage Sports Editor Before looking ahead to my tenure in charge of the Concrete Sports Editors I must first look back and acknowledge the highly commendable job both Billy Sexton and Sam Tomkinson have done for the section during this academic year.

I think everyone involved with UEA took

pleasure in defeating Essex at Derby Day 2013, and the coverage of the event was impeccable. The constant live twitter stream from the Concrete Sport account was especially impressive, and that is certainly an area of success I would like to continue.

Derby Day is undoubtedly the main event in the UEA sport calendar, and we will certainly be looking to take full advantage of technology. Aside from Derby Day there is so much sport occurring regularly throughout the year to get excited about. Will and I will are in the process of assembling a team of reporters to cover a range of sports so we can do justice to as many of the great sportsmen and women at UEA as possible.

I have been a regular contributor of match reports for Men’s Football I’s, who I have also spent a year playing for.

Despite football being my true love, I am really looking forward to covering a wide spectrum of events, and giving all sports teams a platform to flaunt their talents.

I am thoroughly looking forward to being Sports Editor next year, and do hope that the ideas we have for the section come to fruition, so that you can live all the ecstasies and agonies of UEA sport 2013/2014.

Will Medlock Sports Editor Hi guys, first and foremost I wanted to say how much I’m looking forward to working with all of our correspondents, new and current, in a year that promises to throw up more twists and turns than we could possibly imagine. I’m also delighted to be working alongside Charlie as we look

to build on the high quality of journalism achieved last year.

I also just want to say a quick congratulations to Billy and Sam, the previous co-editors. They did a stellar job last year and I’m positive we’ll be able to keep up the good work. With regards to myself, I’m a third year Film and TV student who contributed a few articles to both Venue and the sports section last year. I feel I’m ready for the challenge of commissioning work for all of you writers out there, whether you wrote for the paper last year or not. I was pleasantly surprised at the standard of work I found in the section last year and am pleased to be inheriting such a talented group of writers.

If you just didn’t get around to writing for us last year, then I’d encourage you to get involved. Regardless of whether you’re looking to improve on your portfolio or just write for the fun of it, we’d love to hear from you. We can guarantee a range of sports will be covered in the section, so if football or rugby isn’t your bag then fear not because we’ll be covering all bases.

So, all that’s left to say is I hope you enjoy reading our section in Concrete, as well as the paper itself, and we hope to hear from you. Cheers, Will.

Dortmund and Bayern set for intense Wembley showdown Billy Sexton Sports Correspondent Champions League football has yet again proved why it is one of the most entertaining competitions in the modern game. The English teams broke records, as Chelsea became the first defending champions to be eliminated from the group stages. Similarly, Manchester City managed the lowest points tally of English domestic champions, with just three points to their name – even Blackburn Rovers managed to amass four point in their brief flirtation with European football in 1995-96.

Arsenal and Manchester United both exited the competition to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively, indicating that the FA has a lot to learn from their European counterparts, particularly with regard to the nurturing of young players and ticket prices.

Whilst mainstream newspapers and football writers proceed to declare that power has shifted from Spain to Germany, lapping at the feet of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, they seem to fail to remember the newly crowned German champions have reached three of the last four Champions League finals, along with all three German teams winning their respective groups (Schalke 04

topped group B). Regardless of the media jumping on the bandwagon of German football, which has been in motion far longer than a few weeks, nobody can deny the exhilarating manner in which Bayern Munich disposed of Barcelona.

A 7-0 aggregate defeat for the four time winners was embarrassing beyond measure and perhaps signals that their brand of tiki taka football may be at its end. Managers will now gear their sides to defend against the intense, fast paced attacking football that seems to come so

naturally to the likes of Franck Ribery, Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski.

Borussia Dortmund have certainly been the dark horses of the entire tournament. It was initially doubtful that they would be able to escape their group that included Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax. However, Dortmund prevailed and two last gasp goals against Malaga in the quarterfinal seemed to suggest that it was written in the stars for Dortmund. The disconcerting news that playmaker Mario Gotze would be

departing for rivals Munich for £31 million in the summer threatened to affect their performance against Real Madrid. The rest, as they say, is history, as Robert Lewandowski dismantled Jose Mourinho’s men to secure an emphatic 4-1 victory.

The neutral observer cannot help but root for Dortmund. Their loveable manager, Jurgen Klopp, is somewhat of a cult figure in Germany, and their young attacking line up of Reus, Gotze, Blaszczykowski and Lewandowski are ones to watch for the future. It would be a real shame if big money clubs such as Manchester United and Paris St. Germain continued to take to pieces Klopp’s ingenious creation. With Reus and Gotze to be separated from July onward, Germany’s national team could be affected; the pair could have been successors to Xavi and Iniesta who are two talismen who displayed the benefits of allowing club football to interact with the international game. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to observe Klopp’s can continue with his policy of ‘low age, low wage’ and still be successful with Dortmund.

Speculation aside, one thing is certain; football fans are set for an exciting conclusion to the Champions League, as Dortmund face Munich in an all German final.

@concretesport

Concrete Sport UEA

SPORT

Issue 284 7 May 2013

Champions League Round up

Ga Chun Yau

Future looks bright for Men’s lacrosse Steven van de Put Sports Correspondent The 2013-2014 campaign proved to be an excellent time to be a lacrosse player at the University of East Anglia. The Eagles were ever present in the top 3 of the midlands 2A BUCS league, with the first semester arguably the most prolific the UEA men’s side have ever been.

The men got off to a flying start this year as they demolished Warwick 2nds 33-0 at Colney Lane. This unprecedented first result proved to be a sign of things to come. The Colney Lane setting proved a fortress with all home games being won convincingly. Following the Warwick success, UEA encountered a more task as they travelled to Oxford to play Brookes. UEA have a history of struggling on Oxfordshire turf, largely due to the fatigue accumulated through a several hour journey in the back of a mini–van. However, The Eagles, did not go down without a fight, and after a tense last quarter they managed to claim a hard fought point. Birmingham were the next visitors to Norfolk and were beaten comprehensively 7-0.

The first home goal conceded came against Nottingham after three matches, but that was enough to stop the Eagles winning 33-1. UEA’s home form continued to instil fear into all visiting opposition, with the dominant hosts comfortably seeing off Lincoln by 13-2.

After the Lincoln game the Eagles hit a dip in form, with the academic schedule for key players starting to intensify. The fact that most of the final matches of the semester were played away wfrom Colney also contributed to the slight downturn in fortunes.

UEA, comfortably in first position at the beginning of the semester, slid down a spot after losing to Loughborough 121. However, there was still hope for the Eagles as their superior goal difference meant that promotion was still possible if the game at Nottingham Trent was won.

Despite a valiant effort by the team, UEA lost 13-3, culminating in a third place finish.

There were, however, many bright spots for the Eagles as Juliusz Bokiej transformed into a very valuable player down the stretch. English talent was also present, with Kyran Rose providing valuable contributions to the side. This

was also demonstrated at Derby Day, against an Essex team that were always going to be tough opponents. The visitors fielded a side that will be playing in the premiership next year, meaning there was no shame in UEA’s eventual loss. The game was unexpectedly close, though, as both sides getting more than they bargained for.

Despite the defeat, those players leaving this year can hold their head high at what proved to be an eventful campaign, with those staying on having the opportunity to prove that the Derby Day result of this year was a mere fluke.

UEA CRICKET RESULTS UEA I’s 200 - 199 Leicester

UEA II’s 181 - 198 Lincoln

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