Issue
30.09.14
300
22nd January 1992 – 30th September 2014 concrete-online.co.uk @Concrete_UEA ConcreteNewspaper
NUS president challenges universities over “lad culture” and sexual harassment on campuses
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Wheatus poster! Ned Samuel News reporter Universities are being put under pressure to tackle “lad culture” by National Union of Students (NUS) president Toni Pearce, following a survey of 2,156 students recently undertaken byPolicy the Exchange NUS which shows a Photo: Flickr, prevalence of harassment and sexism on campuses nationwide. The survey indicates that a great deal of sexual harassment is taking place at universities, with women enduring far more than men. More direct sexism and the inability of people in universities to take sexual assault seriously have also been reported. 37% of women and 12% of men who took part said they had experienced unwanted groping and touching, and 36% of women and 16% of men said they had experienced unwanted sexual comments about their bodies. Twothirds of students reported seeing other students sexually harassed; the same number had heard rape and sexual assault jokes on campus, and a third said they had seen gender-based verbal harassment take place. The survey also suggested that there is a lack of awareness about how to deal with sexual harassment; 60% of students said they
Geri Scott takes a look back over 22 years and 300 editions of UEA’s student newspaper.
were unaware of any codes of conduct at their university or student union which could help them report perpetrators and get support. Pearce (pictured at right) has blamed the sexism and harassment on “lad culture”, which is typified by often competitive binge drinking and casual misogyny. Many students had seen promotional posters for club nights use sexualised images of women, and three quarters said they were aware of websites that endorse this culture, like The Lad Bible and Uni Lad, with many (63% of women, 43% of men) thinking the sites were degrading to women. In response, the NUS has launched a pilot scheme in some unions to assess the impact of “lad culture” and to try and combat it with the involvement of Pearce, as well as Laura Bates of the organisation Everyday Sexism. Pearce has also stressed that universities cannot continue with the “passing the buck approach” and instead “must acknowledge the problems and join us in confronting them”. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, praised the research for helping increase understanding of the issue, but also said that there were services for students affected and that it was “an issue for society generally, not just one confined to university students”.
NUS president Toni Pearce Flickr, Policy Exchange
On the 22nd January 1992, the first edition of Concrete was published, boasting on the front page to be “UEA’s new independent student newspaper”. Some things have changed since then, as articles discuss the pros and cons of joining the NUS and the evolving nature of the polytechnic. But other things have stayed surprisingly the same, with some stories that wouldn’t look out of place in today’s publication. A front page story details how the Waterfront had been chosen to host the Radio One Soundcity Festival, and a features article on the various uses for condoms wouldn’t be out of place in our annual sex issue. Employment prospects for graduates was always a hot topic, and the reporting of Union Council decisions still present.
Back in 1992, Concrete had a Women’s section that discussed what should be done about sexual harassment and whether women were “still second-class citizens”. Judging by the front page headline, there are still parallels to be drawn. Whilst we can appreciate the importance of this at the time, we like to think that women are now prominent throughout the newspaper and do not need to be confined to the one page that we were previously given. Indeed, I’m personally proud to be the third in line of female editor-in-chiefs. Amongst other things that have stayed the same, there are match reports about the UEA Pirates, and the Women’s Rugby team, both of whom are still active today, as well as a piece on the Raising and Giving Society,
22 Inside Our special 20-
page supplement of articles from the Concrete archive THE
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commonly known as RAG, who organise the ever-popular Pimp my Barrow. Take a look at the enclosed Archive Supplement that Deputy Editor Peter Sheehan has worked extremely hard on for the last few weeks, of which we are all very proud. It gives a real insight into the direction that each editor has wanted to take Concrete and I hope it encourages you to get involved, whether that is through writing, proofreading or photography. As we continue to digitalise our archive, I’m really excited to see how Concrete evolved over the years. We hope to be able to unveil our archive in the next weeks, so keep your eyes peeled on social media for the announcement and take a look into the history of our campus and surrounding areas.