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The bard on the box Shakespear on TV >VENUE

A student’s guide to

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>P21 26th January 2016 Issue 320

concrete-online.co.uk @Concrete_UEA ConcreteNewspaper

Union retains control Censored campus? of student sport clubs >> Chair of sports exec: settlement “frustrating” >> “Students know what’s best for sport” Joe Jameson Editor-in-Chief The long-running battle over control of UEA’s sports clubs continues, after a vote at last Thursday’s Union Council reaffirmed the student union’s determination to retain sole control of sport at UEA. But Sally Maryosh, chair of the union’s sport executive committee, branded the current situation “frustrating”.

Maryosh opened the debate by speaking in favour of returning to round-table discussions with the Sports Partnership Group (SPG) about dramatically changing how clubs are financed and administered. This could have allowed the university a greater say in how UEA sport is run. Concrete reported on December 2014 on an attempt by the SPG to take control of sports clubs out of the union’s hands.

Speaking to Concrete after the vote, Maryosh said that she understood why Council was unwilling to countenance ceding control of sports clubs to the university. She explained that she brought the motion to Council because the sports executive felt that it would be better if there “wasn’t anything stopping any negotiations”.

Commenting on the debate itself, Maryosh said that she had been “frustrated” over the opposition to the motion because she was “coming from the position of students. I only gave a brief history [of discussions with the SPG] because it’s actually a rather complex issue – there is so much more to what is going

on”.

An amendment proposed by Yinbo Yu, the union’s Opportunities and Activities Officer, and Liam McCafferty, Postgraduate Education Officer, stated that sport at UEA is expensive because the union is underfunded by the university. However, Maryosh argued that funding was available. “There is more funding, but it’s just not available under the current system. The sports clubs feel the restrictions when there is money [which is not being invested]. But clubs know that sport is expensive”, she said Yu expressed his support for the policy: “The union is absolutely committed to working in partnership with UEA on sport, but there’s a big difference between partnership and takeover”. He added: “Students at UEA don’t want their union’s grant to be cut or their sports clubs taken over”.

But Maryosh told Concrete that the sports societies didn’t “care who works for who. We deal with the product, and at the moment, that product isn’t getting there”. She added that the main issue which had been brought to the sport executive was not one of finance, but of “better structure and organisation, and just more support”.

Yu summarised by stating that he was “now keen that everyone – the SU, the uni and sports club – moves on from this debate and gets round the table to start solving practical problems – such as sponsorship, storage and facility allocation – that clubs tell us they’re facing”.

>> UEA free-speech rating downgraded >> Spiked.com: UEA “hostile to free speech” >> Universities pressing to get FOI exemption In Full: p4-5

UEA 46th in list of 50 best UK employers – Bloomberg Natalie Froome News reporter According to a survey of employees at 1,600 companies in the UK, the University of East Anglia ranks in the top 50 organisations to work for. The Coventry based, car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover came top of the list, followed by the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

The survey was commissioned by Bloomberg and carried out by data research company Statista, who questioned over 15,000 staff at companies across the UK. Excluded from the research were companies

who dealt in weapons, tobacco, gambling or pornography with Bloomberg’s direct competitors also being exempt.

Employees in the survey were quizzed through 35 questions about their job satisfaction and asked in particular whether they would recommend their employer or a competitor to a potential new recruit.

They were also asked whether they had positive or negative impressions of other named companies. The overall data was then compiled based on both internal and external perceptions of the employers.

To be included in the survey, companies had to be UK based and have at least 500 employees. The survey was conducted online

and none of the companies whose employees were questioned were informed to ensure results represented participants true opinions.

UEA places at number 46, making the top 50 alongside many famous brands and companies such as the BBC, Google, Microsoft, ITV and Harrods.

UEA is one of 25 education sector employees on the list, and one of just five universities, with staff at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Plymouth appearing within the top 50.

According to the reports co-author, Statista analyst, Charlotte Edny, reputation and the atmosphere within a company is very important for employee satisfaction. She also

believes that colleagues working together doing important and valued work while being given the opportunity for training, all plays a part in that atmosphere.

In a statement from the university, ViceChancellor Professor David Richardson stated that he was: “pleased our employees identified UEA as one of the best places to work in the UK”.

The VC added that: “staff satisfaction is as important to the university as student satisfaction, but of course there is always more we can do as an employer to make sure those who work here are motivated and fulfilled in their role, and we’ll strive to continue offering a great place to work”.

26th January 2016

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Editorial Dougie Dodds

COMMENTcartoon

The University of East Anglia’s independent student newspaper since 1992 Tuesday 26th January 2016 Issue 320

Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593466 www.concrete-online.co.uk

Editors-in-Chief Dan. Falvey Joe Jameson concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Deputy Editor Peter Sheehan concrete.deputy@uea.ac.uk

Free speech at UEA is at risk Last week painted a damning picture of censorship

Dan Falvey Editor-in-Chief

L

ast week proved to be a very important week in relation to freedom of speech and censorship. First there was the revelation that universities may be made exempt from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests; then Spiked.com released its free speech university rankings, giving UEA a red (compared to last year’s green); and Friday was the deadline for the university to tell the Higher Education Funding Council how they intend to comply with the government’s Prevent strategy, which aims to cut down on radicalisation of students but has been accused of restricting free speech. The timing of these news stories paints a very damning picture of censorship at universities.

It is vital that universities remain subject to FOI requests. Students pay £9,000 in tuition a year to attend these institutions and it is only right that they are forced to release information related to students’ time spent studying there. Further, universities are public bodies that produce thousands of research papers every year: their findings should be able to be meticulously scrutinised by those who wish to.

Since the start of the academic year, Concrete, has used FOI requests to report news that is in the interest of students. In issue 313, our first of the year, we were able to inform students that UEA made millions of pounds in profit from charging students for halls of residence accommodation. And in issue 317 we uncovered the disproportionate funding between schools at UEA. Without FOI requests we would have been unable to report these important stories.

Universities submitting how they plan

to comply with Prevent must be treated cautiously. It is important that action should be taken to tackle extremism on campuses.

However, it is equally important that moves are made to ensure that such measures do not restrict freedom of speech on campus. It is therefore welcome that the university has already admitted that it is doing everything it can to try and balance these two duties so that they can meet the terms of the government’s anti-extremism strategy while ensuring that everything is done that can be done make certain universities remain a place where students can learn about the opinions of others.

The original plans to tackle extremism had advocated a ban on external university speakers who could be considered to hold extremist views. Thankfully these proposals

“It is worth noting that there is a limit to freedom of speech. ” have now changed. Extremist speakers will be allowed to speak at universities so long as somebody with opposing views is invited to speak at the same event. These compromises are a much better proposal by the government. It is essential that intellectual academic debates be allowed to thrive in a university environment.

It was for this reason that so many were shocked when Concrete exclusively reported just before Christmas that a UEA politics student had been visited by Special Branch officers for reading Isis propaganda as part of their course reading. The student in question was studying a module entitled the Clash of Fundamentalism, which looks at competing ideologies, and would not be possible to teach properly without looking at extremist views.

It is therefore paramount that the university does all in its power to ensure its compliance with the Prevent strategy does not hinder the study of this module and modules similar to it.

However, what is worrying is the fact that censorship of certain views on campus already exists. Last year, the Ukip candidate for Norwich South in the general election, Steve Emmens, was refused the right to speak at an event on campus after a petition to ban him claimed that international students may feel uncomfortable about his presence.

Such moves not only reflect badly on UEA (Emmens’s ban was partially responsible for UEA’s red free speech rating) but are also against the entire ethos of higher education.

In university seminars, students are welcomed to express controversial opinions to debate and therefore students should be able to cope with a speaker appearing at an event on campus and giving opinions that they do not agree with. To assume that they cannot is patronising to everyone studying here.

However, it is worth noting that there is a limit to freedom of speech. Another reason that Spiked.com gave UEA a red rating was for the union’s decision to suspend the UEA hockey club while it investigated allegations of inappropriate behaviour. Acting in a way which directly causes others to feel uncomfortable in a club or society is wrong; it is not censorship of free speech but rather merely taking the suitable action to ensure that anyone who wishes to get involved in group activity can do so.

A third reason that UEA was given such a poor rating was for the union’s decision to stop the Sun and the Star from being sold in union outlets. At the next Union Council meeting, councillors will vote on whether the union should continue to ban these publications. The vote could go either way with some councillors believing that it is right to ban these newspapers due to their lack of inclusive views, while others agree with Spiked.com and feel that such a move is to undermine free speech. I know I will certainly be hoping that the ban is lifted so students will be allowed to decide for themselves whether they wish to buy such publications.

Online Editors Rob Drury Tom Etheridge concrete.online@uea.ac.uk News Jessica Frank-Keyes concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Global Caitlin Doherty concrete.global@uea.ac.uk Features Olivia Minnock Alice Mortimer concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Comment Megan Bradbury concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk Science&Environment Jacob Beebe concrete.scienv@uea.ac.uk Travel Dahlia Al-Abdullah concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk Sport James Chesson Tom Gordon concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk Chief Copy Editor Tom Etheridge concrete.copy@uea.ac.uk Principle researcher Sam Naylor email TBC

Editorial inquiries concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk Complaints & corrections concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk

Front page credits Top bar, left: Flicr, Adam Reeder Top bar, far right: Nicola Wong Feature photo: Flickr, Craig Sunter No part of this newspaper may be reproduced by any means without the permission of the Editors-in-Chief, Dan Falvey and Joe Jameson. Published by the Union of UEA Students on behalf of Concrete. Concrete is a UUEAS society, but retains editorial independence as regards to content. Opinions expressed herin are those of individual writers, not of Concrete or its editorial team.

News 26th January 2016

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UEA named one of UK’s most underrated universities on student web forum >> Page 7

Student grants scrapped Isaac Scoulding News reporter Maintenance grants for students from lower income households have been scrapped by the government after MPs voted in favour of new plans last week. Students from low-income households will from September be entitled to a larger loan, but this must be repaid.

The government originally attempted to push through the proposal without a full House of Commons debate, instead planning to have the issue discussed by a legislation committee of 17 MPs. However, Labour tabled a motion in an attempt to block the reforms. Labour MP Paul Blomfield branded the attempt to push through the “fundamental change” without a vote “unacceptable”. He added: “no mention was made in the Conservative manifesto of ending those grants”.

303 MPs voted in favour of the move, while 292 were against it. It has been alleged that ministers planned to end grants via a committee in an effort to prevent the House of Lords from blocking the move. A government spokesman stated that the process used by ministers had been approved by parliament in the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998. Shadow universities minister Gordon Marsden said it was “not simply technical tinkering but a major change by the government that will deprive around half a million of England’s students from lower income and disadvantaged households of maintenance grant funding”.

Previously, students from households with incomes of £42,620 or less were entitled to a yearly grant. This could reach up to £3,387 if a household income was under £25,000.

However, from September these students will instead be offered an increased loan of up to £8,200, or £10,702 for those studying in London.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron defended the change as he said students will not have to start repaying their loans until they are earning over £21,000, and will have their debts written off after 30 years. Thousands of students from around the country blocked Westminster Bridge for over an hour and a half while the final debate on the matter was taking place, with critics of the change arguing that young people from low-income families will be discouraged from higher education.

However, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills says the move will result in students getting support when they most need it, as the total amount they are able to borrow has increased by £766. Marsden though warns that poorer students will leave university with more debt than their peers.

Chancellor George Osborne also backed the move, stating that there was a “basic unfairness in asking taxpayers to fund the grants of people who are likely to earn a lot more than them”.

Chris Jarvis, UUEAS Campaigns and Democracy Officer, explained the move, stating that: “the confirmation that maintenance grants will be cut by the government is an absolute disgrace. Research from NUS shows that over a third of students who receive maintenance grants would not have attended university if they did not receive one”. He affirmed that: “UUEAS will continue to work with other unions nationwide to fight for a fair education system and to make access to higher education a right, not a privilege”.

Survey reveals student bias against BME academics Jessica Frank-Keyes News Editor

Photo: Wikimedia, Manfred Werner

COMMENT Caitlin Doherty questions the democratic implications of the decision to axe grants

T

here are 650 seats in the House of Commons including one that is revoked in the opening days of any government due to the necessity of a Speaker. 650 seats, 330 of which are held

by David Cameron’s Conservative Party, in comparison to the mere 232 held by Jeremy Corbyn’s opposing Labour Party.

Despite these figures - despite having an overall Commons majority of 12 David Cameron’s government, last week, chose to subvert the democratic tradition and pass legislation without passing the motion through the House.

Student maintenance grants were revoked without the permissions, or some could argue, even the knowledge of Britain’s political representatives.

People are, quite rightfully, protesting the affront to equality. Thousands, if not millions of young people will now struggle with access to higher education, university and it’s accompanying costs: the books, the rent, the groceries, and so on, are being suspended teasingly out of reach of those who can’t dip in to daddy’s bank account.

However, this decision has far more concerning consequences. A party, one that holds the majoritarian position in a fully democratically elected government chose to abstain from democracy; that is something of which we should be terribly afraid.

Government announces end of nursing bursary Lotte Crook News reporter The wake of the 2015 Autumn Spending Review saw the introduction of loans for up to 10,000 new nursing students. The NHS bursary, which covered tuition fees for those studying a nursing degree has been scrapped and replaced with a further loan. These cuts, starting in September 2017, will lead to repayments on loans amounting to £900 taken immediately from nursing graduates wages.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has spoken out against the proposed cuts, arguing that as “nine out of ten hospitals currently have a

90%

The percentage of hospitals that currently have a nursing shortage, according to Jeremy Corbyn

nursing shortage” the removal of bursaries will cause further escalation of staff shortages.

David Cameron has defended this decision with claims of savings of £800m a year and that plans will prevent capping of numbers of nursing degree places.

UEA first year nursing student Juana Ha however disagrees: “From a mature student’s point of view, I wouldn’t have been able to do a nursing degree without the bursary as I’m already in debt from my previous degree”.

An analysis of the 2014 National Student Survey results has revealed that black or ethnic minority academics receive more negative feedback from their students. A study, published on the 7th January this year, discovered that the ethnicity of lecturers was a significant influence on the satisfaction levels of UK undergraduate students. The researchers, from the University of Reading, ascribe this outcome to “unconscious biases” held by respondents to the survey.

Adrian Bell and Chris Brooks, the report’s authors, compared National Student Survey results with staff data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency and established that for each 1% rise in the amount of academic staff in a department who identify as white, there was an equivalent 0.06% increase in the overall student satisfaction. This factor had the second most significant effect on the results as a whole when compared to all other variables and the report suggests that “overall students are happiest when taught by staff with the following characteristics: white, full professors, holding doctorates, and on fixedterm contracts”.

The most recent National Student Survey 2015 included 160 higher education institutions in total, with the overall satisfaction figures for all except 11 universities clustered between 92% and 78%. The most successful university in this year’s survey was Keele University scoring 95%, followed closely by the universities of Essex, East Anglia and Surrey, all scoring 92%. Such close figures demonstrate than an “unconscious bias” towards the ethnic make-up of staff could therefore sway league table results as well as individual academic performances, as other recorded staff information such as gender, age and teaching qualifications did not have a noticeable impact on student satisfaction. However, the overall number of staff in a department, their average length of service, and the proportion of them holding doctorates were found to have a positive effect on satisfaction figures.

Bell queried whether, despite the fact that the majority of UK universities use National Student Survey data to assess their academic capabilities, the results of the survey could be “really trusted” due to the presence of bias within the respondents. He acknowledged that aiming to eradicate bias completely would be unrealistic but suggested that universities need to be aware that satisfaction results may decrease as a result of moving towards an increasingly “diverse workforce,” however higher education institutions “have to accept that and be happy with that”.

This study from Reading University is the first example of such a report in the UK, but similar analysis has taken place in the US: revealing that black and ethnic minority lecturers were rated more severely by students on the Rate My Professor website. Students are far less likely to post praise about staff of Chinese, Korean or South-East Asian ancestry.

The comments were focused on individual staff member’s accents and analysis into the site’s results has cast further doubt on the reliability of the data gathered.

26th January 2016

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News

UK universities forced to comply with the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 Jessica Frank-Keyes News editor Last Friday was the deadline for universities to submit assessments of their ability to comply with the Prevent strategy, part of the government’s new anti-terrorism legislation, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015.

“We also think that Prevent is fuelling islamophobia” The act has faced controversy for obliging lecturers to observe students for indications of potential radicalisation. A university spokesperson told Concrete: “UEA’s selfassessment has now been submitted and it confirms that we have reviewed our policies and procedures and comply with the legislation. The university takes seriously its responsibility to maintain the careful balance between freedom of speech and our requirements under the Prevent strategy”.

Speaking to Concrete, UUEAS Welfare Officer, Jo Swo, stated: “We believe it is essentially a very vague piece of legislation that thrives off its vagueness. Any individual can interpret someone’s actions or behaviour in a certain way… This can have serious consequences”.

“If you don’t comply, for example, with Prevent officers coming to your house, they can hold your passport; they can restrict your movements. They have that authority already.

It also targets Muslim people – its designed to do that.

“The reason the union opposes Prevent is that we think when you come to university you should be able to move freely without being monitored. You should be able to discuss ideas… your culture, your experiences, your perspective, without worrying about being reported.

“We also think that Prevent is fuelling islamophobia. After the Paris attacks – which were inexcusable – islamophobia tripled in the UK according to official statistics… This

COMMENT Tom Sellars questions where the real threat to our freedom lies The phrase ‘British values’ has been excessively repeated by pundits and politicians alike, without producing any meaningful definition about what these are. In my opinion, these ‘values’ can be surmised in one word: freedom. Freedom to think, freedom to speak, freedom to assembly.

Claims that the government Prevent strategy threaten intellectual freedom are misguided. The true threat to intellectual freedom is not this government strategy, but the extremist ideologies which this

opinion that just being a Muslim person and going to a mosque is enough to have you considered an extremist”.

She continued: “I understand that the university has to comply. But they should be doing the bare minimum of compliance, and standing up for students should be their priority. We need the university to talk directly to the students that this mostly affects”.

On the subject of whether Prevent poses a threat to intellectual freedoms, she said: “Students should be able to freely explore ideas to gain an understanding – how are you going to develop an opinion on fundamentalism without access to ideas?”

“Freedom of speech, by definition, is the freedom to speak without fear of being arrested. Being able to express opinions and discuss freely without fear is intrinsic to a good education”.

Higher education institutions are also obliged to refuse requests from radical speakers or groups unless the danger of audience participants being drawn into radicalism can be fully avoided. Despite this expectation, six British universities are currently facing investigations over meetings on campus with the controversial human

“How are you going to develop an opinion on fundamentalism without access to ideas?” rights organisation Cage. Concrete can reveal is in discussions with UUEAS in order to arrange an event at UEA. Reports focus on events held at King’s College London and at the School for Oriental and African Studies.

The speakers involved include Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee and a current director of Cage. The group describe themselves as “an independent advocacy organisation” that aim to “empower communities impacted by the War on Terror” and the meetings on campuses reportedly encouraged the sabotage of the governmental anti-extremism agenda. strategy is trying to prevent.

This strategy has been tainted by isolated anecdotes, such as the UEA student questioned over reading Isis propaganda as part of their studies. This does not demonstrate the policy’s ineffectiveness, rather, its effectiveness in challenging extremist propaganda.

Opponents of Prevent – including the Student’s Union – claim that Muslim students are having their civil liberties curbed. This is a woefully mistaken interpretation of the strategy, implicitly stating that Muslim students are sympathetic to the Islamic fundamentalism espoused by Isis and others. This is simply not the case.

Whether or not Prevent is effective remains to be seen, but intrinsic to its efforts, it is protecting our liberal freedoms from extremist ideologies which seeks to curtail them. We must protect our freedoms from these hateful extremist ideologies.

Photo credit: Geography.co.uk, G

Photo credit: Flickr.com, Mikey

UEA scores red in university free speech rankings Jess Frank-Keyes and Caitlin Doherty News editor and News reporter Online political magazine Spiked.com has given the University of East Anglia a red ranking in the Free Speech University Rankings (FSUR), a significant change from the green ranking it awarded in 2015. The website surveyed all British universities and their students unions and ranked them using a traffic light system. Red universities, such as UEA, are accused of having banned and actively censored ideas on campus; amber universities have reduced free speech through intervention, and green universities have a hands-off approach to free speech.

More than 90% of universities restrict free speech, according to Spiked, and have been awarded either a red or amber ranking.

According to the website, UEA and the Union of UEA Students collectively create an environment that is “hostile to free speech”.

Whilst the university was awarded an amber ranking for it’s leaflet and poster policy, which restricts the distribution of leaflets that are likely to cause offence, as well as its guidelines on bullying, harassment and abuse, assault and stalking and the use of social media, it was the policies of UUEAS which resulted in the institution’s overall ranking to red.

Spiked has listed many recent UUEAS policies to justify its judgement, including: last September’s Sombrero-gate, when a local restaurant, Pedro’s, was banned from giving out Mexican-style headwear at the Freshers Fair. Union officers confiscated the hats from students, declaring that they amounted to discriminatory or stereotypical imagery. Furthermore, last year’s decision to cancel a talk, featuring Steve Emmens the

UKIP candidate for Norwich South in the 2015 General Election, has been judged as a further infringement on free speech. This was generally a popular decision amongst students; more than 1,000 people signed a petition, requesting the banning of all Ukip activity from campus.

However, a petition on the union’s website to encourage the union to “do everything it can to support free-speech and free-expression” has garnered 164 signatures since the 18th January. Speaking to Concrete, the creator of the petition,

90%

The percentage of universities which, according to spiked.com, restrict freedom of speech

third-year Economics and International Development student Henry Moggridge, said: “I created this petition because I believe the values of the SU need to be re-considered.

The agenda of protecting students from any form of offense is infringing our right to free speech and freedom of expression. And it’s happening against the will of the majority of students, because they feel unable to get their voices heard”.

He continued: “I do not want to study on a campus where the union decides what we wear, what we talk about, what we read, what we write… Instead of allowing an open discussion about something that may cause offense, we are being told to not discuss it at all. How can young people learn from each other if they cannot have the interesting, passionate conversations that are always dancing on the edge of going too far?”

Some members of the mainstream media have labelled what is seen as this

26th January 2016

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News

COMMENT Joel Woolfenden debates the government’s antiradicalisation strategy

Graham Hardy

Photo credit: Steve Emmens, Ukip

>> Rating downgraded from green in 2015 >> Spiked Online: UEA “banned and actively censored ideas” >> Jo Swo: “there’s freedom of speech, and there’s freedom to be a dick”. widespread restriction upon free speech amongst universities as an epidemic; UEA are certainly not alone in their red award.

63 of a 115 institutions were ranked in this category, many of which are other UK top 50 or Russell Group universities, including: Birmingham, Bath, Manchester, Oxford, and Cardiff. The only two of the Guardian top 50 universities to be awarded a green ranking were the University of Southampton and Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University.

Speaking to Concrete, Jo Swo UUEAS Welfare Officer, described Spiked.com’s final rating as “interesting”, expressing particular surprise that the university gained an amber rating and the union red, and suggested this was due to existing policies intended to prevent harassment and bullying on campus. She claimed that “Spiked have got it confused: there’s freedom of speech - that is, freedom to say what you like without being arrested by the government - and there’s freedom to be a dick.

“As university student bodies expand, you’ve got to realise that you can’t use the same language that was acceptable in the 60s and the 80s. We’ve evolved to the point where we recognise that as abusive and we have to prioritise protecting our students.”

In response to the website’s description of UEA as an institution that “banned and actively censored ideas” and is “hostile to free speech”, Swo claimed that: “Spiked thrives off its vagueness… You need context in these situations and that’s obviously why Spiked isn’t a credible source. For example, the Sun and the Daily Mail are xenophobic, trans-phobic, homophobic and damaging and they aren’t even written freely. They’re bought by the right. I think students just didn’t want that xenophobic shit on campus”. Swo also stated that she was: “Very comfortable that we got a red rating if it was because of hockey. I’m proud of that.

“You could say that because you’re not allowing me to stalk women, you’re limiting my freedom of movement. We’re protecting students because your behaviour is unacceptable. We won’t let you contribute to that oppressive side of society. Why do you want to say these things in the first place?

My priority is to protect under-represented students. The reason why this issue gets so much focus is that the people who are concerned about their freedom of speech are the ones who are privileged.

“You are able to discuss and talk about this. You can come to union council. The union isn’t stamping down on your rights and coming after you with pitchforks accusing people. It’s the same as if you harass someone in one of our venues – we’re going to kick you out. You just need to

ANALYSIS Daniel Jeakins explains the implications of Prevent According to the official government intelligence’s official review published in June 2011, the ‘Prevent’ programme has three key aims – to “respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism”, “prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support” and “work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation”.

The review was aimed at the threat or radicalisation posed by Al Qa’ida, but the programme faces a new test with the rise of the Islamic State and subsequent risk of terrorism.

The Prevent scheme, whilst having good intentions, has potential to lead to yet more alienation of the Muslim community in the UK. The anti-Islam feeling within many British citizens is worry enough for any Muslim within the UK and Prevent encourages further scrutinisation within an environment that exists to educate and better people.

The Prevent scheme will increase the harassment and judgement of those that practise a certain belief or who have certain views and interests, purely because they’re assumed to not be moderate enough.

The scheme also suggests a restriction on those who want to learn about Isis and extremism, an important step so that people know what it is that they don’t agree with when it comes to Isis, based on research not newspaper headlines.

The fact that a student at UEA was investigated for reading an article on Isis for their course is a perfect example of this. While it is very important for the government to tackle extremism, it is a very delicate process.

This kind of rash judgement and suspicion of Islamic beliefs is not an appropriate way in which to tackle a very small proportion of this societal group.

understand the rules.

“The broader picture is: we need to create a better, more equal society and protecting oppressed groups does that. It’s these people who are upset about free speech who aren’t going through the democratic process. They aren’t coming to council, they’re going on Yik Yak, and they’re pretending to have rallies in the square. But they aren’t actually doing anything. I would encourage them to get involved – we aren’t oppressing your voice.

“I would say it’s difficult to get everyone’s voice to be heard. The more political route can be really inaccessible. The union is working on making politics more accessible and we’re open to hearing any ideas from all students but we have to maintain the democratic structures that we have in place”.

There is evidence the government are rising to the issue – in September 2015 the Guardian reported that “schools: along with prisons, local authorities and NHS trusts, they are now under a legal obligation to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.

Young people, who are deemed the most susceptible to being radicalised, are the ones that ‘Prevent’ programme now aims to protect. This is all part of the campaign against what the Government calls ‘non-violent extremism’ – the initial stages in which British citizens are first seduced to radicalisation.

However, there have been questions raised over the effectiveness of counterradicalisation policies, which has resulted in a few heavy handed incidents which, according to those who oppose this policy, has resulted in a break in trust between the public and the security services

Universities could win exemption from Freedom of Information requests Martyn Townsend & Dan. Falvey News reporter & Editor-in-Chief

The government will be reviewing its Freedom of Information (FOI) rules after Russell Group universities demanded to be granted exemption. Vice chancellors claimed universities should be exempt from the legislation because they are private institutions, despite receiving £4bn a year from the taxpayer.

The Russell Group says that the costs of freedom of information requests place too much of a financial burden on them. However the News Media Association found that between all 20 Russell Group universities there were only 284 “communications officers”.

The NMA are heavily against these proposals and have argued that changes in the rules would mean the expenditure of £4bn of taxpayers money would no longer be under public scrutiny.

The Russell Group say that the laws are not currently fair and they undermine efforts to compete with new privately run higher education colleges, which are not subject to the Freedom of Information.

However, higher education colleges have not got as much influence as universities in society, Lucy Gill, the NMAs legal, policy and regulatory affairs advisor, said:

2000

The year that the Freedom of Information Act was introduced.

“Universities are powerful institutions that exercise important public functions, such as controlling access to the professions, … universities are also responsible for the welfare of hundreds of thousands of young people and exert considerable power in their local communities”.

Freedom of information provisions were introduced in 2000, and since then has guaranteed the right to freely access information held by the government and other public sector bodies.

A petition has been set up to lobby the government to try and ensure that higher education institutions continue to have to respond to Freedom of Information requests.

Hiran Adhia, who started the petition has argued that “If this proposal goes ahead, it could spell the end of strong investigative journalism and make it almost impossible to independently hold these institutions to account”.

They continued to state that making universities exempt from requests, “will set a dangerous precedent and harm independent accountability”.

Adhia is the Editor-in-Chief of The Boar, Warwick university’s student newspaper, and set up the petition after the paper revealed that Warwick university highlighted in their response to the government’s green paper that they believed “universities should not remain within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act”.

At the time of going to print, the petition has been signed by over 700 people and has received the support of the Student Publication Association.

26th January 2016

6

News

UEA named as one of UK’s most under-rated unis Caitlin Doherty News reporter According to the Student Room, the University of East Anglia has been described as the most under-rated university in the UK, especially in the prestigious subject departments of medicine and law. UEA was named alongside other institutions in the national top 20 –including Bath, St Andrews, Nottingham, Sussex and Surrey – as one of the most underappreciated universities in the country, according to those who use online forum.

At the time of writing, the discussion thread that generated this ranking had more than 300 replies, has been viewed more than 20,000 times and was generated by those behind the website because we can be “too heavily influenced by uni rankings and the big name universities... [But] league tables can’t tell you everything”.

The University of East Anglia is the most commonly mentioned institution in the thread, with many referring to it’s consistency in excellent student satisfaction and its gradual, but constant rise up the national league tables.

“UEA are constantly improving and moving up the rankings, [especially] for law” says ddogi, but many people are unaware of the quality of the education and student

experience that East Anglia offers: “I hadn’t even heard of it until I came to applying for unis” remarks Neurosci. This general unawareness of UEA could be down to it’s placement outside of the prestigious Russell Group of universities, a sentiment that is echoed on the Student Room: “[UEA] does really well in the league tables, does a lot of research, but it’s not a Russell Group, so it often gets forgotten”, believes sj10.

Second-year student Melina Kouyalis wishes that UEA, and Norwich, had more recognition as a student destination: “Norwich is literally the perfect student city.

The university is outstanding, and the city is small enough to feel safe, yet big enough to never get bored”.

Despite these online users believing that UEA is under-rated in the university league tables, the university has a track record of being one of the best institutions in the country for student satisfaction. UEA has ranked in the top ten best universities for the past five years.

UEA’s Vice-chancellor, David Richardson, takes great pride that so many students at UEA are satisfied with the university. Richardson hs previously indicated that the higher education institution “strive to continue and improve on the efforts of the university to make UEA an exciting and fulfilling place to be. It’s testament to the well-rounded experience UEA and the Union of UEA Students offer in our thriving campus community”.

Several other universities, which were ranked as “underrated”, have also actually seen success in the league tables. Imperial College London, University College London, the London School of Economics, the University of Edinburgh and King’s College London all appeared on the list despite being in the top 30 of the World University Rankings.

Photo: Flickr, Harry Harris

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26th January 2016

7

UEA one of top-100 most international unis – Times Amanda Ng News reporter The University of East Anglia has achieved a place in the top 100 in the Times Higher Education Top 200 Most International Universities 2016. According to the Times Higher Education supplement, UEA achieved its prominent position as 93rd out of the 800 institutions that were evaluated.

The universities were evaluated across several factors: the international awareness of their academics – shown by the amount of collaboration with colleagues on a global basis – and the extent to which the university encompassed a diverse student populace were two of the significant elements that determined international achievements.

As students from more than 120 countries travel the world to study in the heart of Norfolk, it is not a surprise that UEA holds such a culturally integrated student body.

Academic accomplishments that UEA has attained through connecting with difference parts of the world on research projects, has allowed this university to earn the right on the list.

UEA researchers with scientists from 21 countries were able to discover threatened forests in the Amazon. The famous research project, now known as the Global Carbon Budget, was carried out by a combination of institutes from across Europe, Australia

and North America, and together with UEA scientists they were able to prove the decline of carbon dioxidec emissions in 2015.

Having research connections with world renowned institutions such as Harvard University, and universities in China, UEA has been experiencing ongoing expansion as their office networks have travelled east to China, India, Nigeria and Malaysia. More plans for further expansion are yet to come in the nearfuture.

UEA’s engagement with global issues and its research have been greatly appreciated.

UEA Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Richardson said: “Our spot in the top 100 cements our position as a globally-recognised university. It’s wonderful to receive such acknowledgement of the extent of our global reach. Here on our campus we also have a hugely diverse student and staff population which we’re very proud of, with students from more than 120 countries studying here”.

A Times Higher Education spokesperson said: “An institution’s global outlook is one of the key markers of a prestigious university.

The top institutions hire faculty from all over the world, attract students from a global market of top talent and collaborate with leading departments wherever they happen to be based.

“It is great news for all the institutions in the list of the most international universities in the world. It is a sign of great potential, competitiveness and dynamism”.

News

Norwich set to open National Centre for Writing in 2018 Coralie Bastiaens News reporter

Ian McEwan called it “a dreamy city for writers”, and he made a good point. Not only is Norwich the first Unesco City of Literature, but it was announced on 13th January that it is to receive a £900,000 grant from Arts Council England.

This will enable the current Writer’s Centre Norwich to transform into a national hub for literature. The funds will be spent improving the buildings, creating a writer’s cottage and encouraging authors from across the country to attend various events and classes.

Steve Waters, drama lecturer and prominent playwright, is very enthusiastic about the news.

“This is fantastic for Norwich, for UEA and for literature; it’s yet more evidence that this city is leading the world in literary activity and will now have a space and home that embodies that”.

Ruth Phillips, second-year English and Drama student said: “It sounds like a very exciting opportunity. The fact that Norwich is a famously literary city was one of the reasons I came to study in Norwich. If it becomes a national center, it will attract even more students, and more interesting speakers and lecturers.

The work is expected to be finished in 2018.

The Creative Writing course already widely regarded as the most prestigious and successful in the country, this could only benefit future students.

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26th January 2016

8

Global

2016 may prove to be a bleak year for the EU Dan Falvey Editor-in-Chief 2016 is likely to be a defining year in the history of the European Union. Nearly just one month in to the year and already the evidence is clear: the continued problems caused by the migrant crisis has led to the collapse of open boarders and the British in-out EU campaigns have begun to up their rhetoric as a referendum of Britain’s membership to the organisation looks increasingly likely to place late this year.

When the Second World War came to an end in 1945 it was decided by the powers of Europe that it was necessary for countries in Europe to form a union so that the states were so interdependent, economically and politically, that never again could such a war as disastrous was happen again. In 1950, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, all came together to form the European Coal and Steel Community, and so began the formation of the modern day European Union.

Over the last sixty years the EU has expanded to include a total of 28 nation states and has largely increased its remit to now be the biggest economic and political union in the world. Along its journey towards an “ever closer union”, as it was first described in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, and in most treaties since then, the EU has grown to now hold its own currency in the form of the Euro, boast a free market with minimal barriers to trade between member states and introduce a freedom of movement policy in 1992, which allows workers to freely move between member states. However, if the first few weeks of 2016 are anything to go by, 2016 may see an end to the EU’s “ever closer union” and might actually see a reverse in the intergovernmental organisation’s power and remit.

In 2015 more than a million migrants and refugees entered the EU by land or sea according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) with the EU statistics agency, Eurostat, stating that 942,400 people have claimed asylum.

The unprecedented number of refugees making their way to the EU has caused tensions between member states over how to best deal with the problem. In September last year EU ministers voted in favour of relocating 120,00 refugees across the EU. However, those countries worst affected by the crisis, most notably Greece, Italy and Hungary where the majority of migrants enter the EU have expressed their fear that they are still not receiving enough support to cope with the number of refugees entering the EU and are being disproportionately hit by the burden of the crisis.

Further, there has been annoyance at the UK’s decision not to participate in the EU’s relocation plans, instead opting for their own quota system, promising to take in up to 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020.

The lack of a coherent response to the issue supported by all member states has caused some leaders of Europe to fear that the refugee crisis could be the undoing of the EU. “We need to get a grip on this issue in the next six to eight weeks” argued the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, at the Davos summit last week. ““We can’t cope with the numbers any longer. We need to get a grip on this”.

The French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, has also warned against the EU’s inability to co-ordinate an agreed response: “If Europe is not capable of protecting its own borders, it’s the very idea of Europe that will be questioned”.

So desperate are European leaders to find a solution to the issue that they have

US

Photo: Flickr, R-DV-RS even mooted the idea of suspending the EU’s trademark Schengen system for two years under emergency measures. The Schengen rules came into place over 30 years ago, allowing for passport-free travel across 26 states within the EU and has long been seen

Caitlin Doherty looks at the fallout of December’s Spanish elections

A

fter a turbulent 12 months in the European Union – including the sudden humanitarian demands of the international refugee crisis and the on-going threat of Islamic State (Isis) – it is somewhat unsurprising that many national and international newspapers continually return to these stories, certain of a successful headline. However, at what cost comes this easy reliance upon populist news content?

Over the past weeks and months, several important news stories have been relegated to the inside pages, or else completely ignored, by the mainstream European media – and none more so than the political turmoil that is currently overshadowing Spanish politics.

Spain is currently without a government.

Despite being ruled by a caretaker government, headed by the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, elections on 20th December failed to awarding one party a majority and created the most fragmented parliament in the country’s history.

Rajoy’s People’s Party (PP) claimed the most seats, with 123 elected members.

However, this still fell short of the majority

as an essential pillar to the EU’s commitment to freedom of movement. Germany, Sweden, Austria, France, Denmark have already introduced emergency passport checks, along with Norway, who are not a part of the EU but is a part of the Schengen agreement. needed for an overall victory in the 350-seat chamber. The PP’s traditional rivals, the Socialists, came in second place, winning 90 seats overall. Third was the anti austerity Podemos Party with 69 seats; the new, centre-right Ciudadanos Party took 40 seats.

Attempts to form a new government have, as of yet, been unsuccessful.

The inevitable disruption of the festive period has been exacerbated by ongoing political disputes in the country: primarily, the dispute over Catalonian independence.

Catalonia – the northeastern region of Spain, home to the city of Barcelona – has long fought for independence from the rest of the country, a position that is resoundingly supported by the region’s people and parliament. This desire for independence has, in recent years, manifested itself as defiance against national government, a tradition that is complicating the present situation.

When sworn into office, members of the Spanish parliament must swear an oath to the king. However, before this parliament opened, Catalonian representatives, along with those from the Basque Country, insisted on taking the oath in their local language. This decision not only elongated the process, but publicly highlighted the divisions between national and regional government.

Furthermore, when King Filipe called

The potential breakdown of freedom of movement has not been the only bleak moment for the EU so far in 2016. The UK’s in-out of the EU referendum promised by the British government by the end of 2017 is looking likely to take place later this year following the Prime Minister’s announcement that he is “hopeful” a renegotiation deal on the terms of the Britain’s membership to the EU may be reached by the end of February. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme David Cameron said: “I would like to see, is a deal in February, then a referendum that would follow”.

The belief that the referendum will happen sooner rather than alter has led to a several groups campaigning for the UK to leave the EU to launch since the turn of the year. Most recently, “Grassroots-out”, a cross-party group supported by Ukip leader Nigel Farage, Labour MP Kate Hoey and Conservative MP Liam Fox, was launched in Northamptonshire.

The new group now sits alongside the “Vote Leave” and “Leave.EU” groups which are also campaigning for Britain to exit the EU. Recent polling by YouGov indicates that the British public is currently split over the vote with 51% being in favour of remaining in the EU and 49% planning to vote “out”. The UK is a major contributor to the EU and the state’s exit would be a massive blow for the supranational organisation.

2016 is bound to prove a challenge for the EU. Never before has a nation exited the EU, as equally, never has the organisation had to ‘reverse’ legislation. The possibility of the suspension of Schengen and Britain’s exit from the EU is therefore unprecedented and does not just propose a threat to the EU’s aim of an “ever closer union” but to the European Union itself. Whether either of these two scenarios come about is yet to be seen, but regardless of their outcomes, 2016 will be a year that will be forever remembered in the history books of the EU. an emergency conference of Spanish party leaders in an attempt to form some sort of coalition government, the establishment was embarrassed once more as the regional Catalonian president was sworn in to office having refused to pledge allegiance to the king.

Whilst these conflicts are hampering Felipe’s efforts to form a new government, the pressure is further compounded by the Spanish people. Despite having been without a proper government for more than a month, Spaniards seem reluctant to head to the polls again. A survey by newspaper El País suggested that 61% of the population oppose a re-election, a decision that many seem sensible given that polls suggest that any second vote would return a similar result. It seems that nobody is happy, but very little can be done to resolve the issues.

Whilst most European leaders and newspapers, have been involving themselves in a battle of words over Isis and the refugee crisis, the pressure of media attention may be something that is desperately needed in Spain. At time when the EU should be united, domestic factions such as these could potentially pose a threat to the wider, international political situation, and the cohesion of an already divided union.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

26th January 2016

9

Global Bosses can now read employees’ WhatsApp messages Companies now have the right to monitor their employees’ private communications on WhatsApp, Yahoo and other messaging services, after a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

This ruling follows the case of Bogdan Mihai Barbulescu, a Romanian engineer who was fired in 2007 after using a Yahoo account he had created to communicate with clients to message his brother and fiancée.

Last week, the court dismissed Barbulescu’s claims that his right to privacy had been breached, and judged that it was “not unreasonable that an employer would want to verify that employees were completing their professional tasks during working hours”.

As of yet, it is unclear whether this will have a blanket effect on all forms of online messaging services used during the working day, or specifically those forms of online communication that are intended for work use. However, this ruling is still significant.

It comes from the ECHR, so it is binding to all countries that have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, including the UK, and concerns have been raised that it may result in a breakdown of the division between private and company correspondence.

Meg Bradbury Terrorist attack at Pakistan university Security forces intervenes after a bomb attack at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, north west Pakistan on January 20th left 19 people dead and more than 50 people injured. Four suspected attackers also died during the three hour assault on the institution.

Palin backs Trump’s presidential bid

ROUNDUP

360

There are conflicting reports regarding who is responsible for the attack. However, overwhelming opinion suggests that this is the work of the Pakistani Taliban, the same group responsible for the murder of 130 school students in Peshawar, just 30 miles from Bacha Khan University, in December 2014.

The attack was launched at approximately 09:30 local time, as militants apparently climbed over a back wall, covered by a thick layer of fog as the approximately 3,000 students were beginning classes.

Many people have drawn comparisons between this attack and the 2014 attack in Peshawar. However, the final death toll is expected to be significantly smaller than the previous attack, given the swift response from the emergency services.

Caitlin Doherty

Sarah Palin announced her endorsement of Republican front-runner Donald Trump’s presidential bid at a campaign rally in Iowa last Tuesday. The controversial former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee joined the equally provocative candidate on stage to give a glowing recommendation of Trump’s “private sector” skills in an official endorsement.

In a statement on his campaign website, Trump described the announcement as a “coveted and influential endorsement”.

He expressed his respect for Palin and his pride at receiving her support, stating that: “I am greatly honoured to receive Sarah’s endorsement. She is a friend, and a highquality person whom I have great respect for.

I am proud to have her support”.

Palin served as John McCain’s running mate in 2008 ahead of the Republican Party’s loss to Barack Obama – an impressive victory for the Democrats that missed the official ranking of an electoral landslide by just 1.3% of the vote.

Since then, Palin, despite retiring from politics to pursue her media career, has remained an influential conservative talking head. While she lost relevance with mainstream media outlets, in right-wing circles she has stayed a prominent figure and her endorsement could upset other Republicans vying for the nomination.

Jessica Frank-Keyes

Photos Above: Wikimedia: Gage Skidmore Graphic: Wikimedia, US government

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Features

26th January 2016

11

How have celebrities influenced generations? >>Page 11

Capitalism & controversy

Why marketers love to offend

Features editor Alice Mortimer examines controversial advertising, and discusses whether the resulting public backlash is often the marketer’s original intention

I

n a society characterised by capitalism, consumerism and simply “having it all”, it is impossible to avoid advertisements and maintain immunity from the influence of ever-clever PR techniques. More than ever, marketers have the ability to work out precisely what makes you tick and exactly how to target you, and that is all thanks to technology. But just how far will marketers go get their brand name noticed?

Popular restaurant chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) recently received public criticism upon the unveiling of their controversial new posters, part of the company’s new marketing campaign. The posters, seen largely on the London Underground, feature an image of a meaty burger with the caption “Vegetarians, resistance is futile”. Another variation, alongside an image of a young cow, proclaims “They eat grass so you don’t have to”.

Sure enough, this kind of advertising got the brand the mass coverage that GBK desired. But does the saying “There’s no such thing as bad press” really ring true when social media allows for a participatory culture endorsing not only public discussion, but public retaliation and oppositional action?

The topic was soon trending on Twitter with vegetarians, vegans and meat-eaters alike expressing their disgust at the campaign,

“Does the saying ‘there’s no such thing as bad press’ really ring true in current times?” which was seen as mocking vegetarianism whilst alienating a large proportion of the restaurant’s customer base.

But some people took matters into their own hands through the creation of spoof posters. Examples included “We kill them so you don’t have to” – referring to the cow image – and “You’ll always remember when your customer base realised that eating dead bodies was barbaric” – a spoof of an original poster which stated “You’ll always remember when you gave up being a vegetarian”. It was suggested that the restaurant felt threatened by the increasing popularity of veganism. But by the looks of it, I’m not sure whether this was the right way to go about appealing to vegans.

Certain groups in society are not always targeted in such overt ways by marketers. Last year feminists defaced posters advertising Protein World, which featured an image of a very slim and toned woman in a bikini with the caption “Are you beach body ready?”

Although not explicitly referring to a social group, many women took offence, arguing the advertisement implied that if you did not look like the model in the picture, you should not be showing your body on the beach – a form of body-shaming to invoke pressure and ultimately, purchase. Unlike the GBK campaign, Protein World probably failed to see their advertising as controversial or likely to offend, although in recent years audiences

Photo: Flickr, Pamela Graham

have become less passive in their consumption of such media. “If my body is on a beach, then it is ready, thank you very much”, was just one of the comments that defaced one of the posters.

We should doubt whether the company has many, if any regrets over the campaign which was talked about so widely.

GBK and Protein World have certainly received the media attention they were looking for, but surely it would be better to be seeen in a positive and liberal light than as a moneyhungry corporation? Have marketers really run out of ideas good enough to gain media attention on legitimate grounds, or do they really have to make certain groups in society feel uncomfortable in order to be talked about?

It seems many companies are blissfully unaware of the power of the people, and the ways in which word-of-mouth is still more powerful than the projection of mass media.

Companies which promote a healthy way of living, and that embrace all social groups are more likely to gain my money, my promotional word-of-mouth and my Twitter hashtags than those who are clearly solely concerned with their own capitalist agenda than positive PR with their product. Competition between similar companies has led to controversy being the easiest way to get attention – and this is why it can be argued that capitalism is detrimental to our social relations.

By all means, we should let them offend us.

We should respond to what we don’t believe is ethically or socially right. We should discuss, we should argue and we should participate.

But the best revenge? Maybe we should just stop giving them the one thing they actually want: our money.

26th January 2016

12

Features

Talking ‘bout m

From artistic to economic

Catalina Curbishley mourns the death of David Bowie and looks at what he and other high-profile figures have done to inspire influence generations

10

th January marked the end of an era for many. When, hardly a week into 2016, we lost another hero. The media exploded with empathetic tributes and attempts to relive his cultural contribution.

Hundreds gathered in Brixton to celebrate his life. Fans circled his flat in New York with candles and flowers to pay their respects.

You could hear his voice echoing through the streets, as all the pubs and bars seemed to simultaneously commemorate the loss of another beautiful being.

But why is it that someone’s death can affect a nation so much? How can one person cause such an emotional uproar? Hundreds of people die every day, but the majority of us carry on with our lives, unmoved. How can one person influence a generation so much that his loss can cause a collective pain?

David Bowie was much more than just a pretty voice. His personality and songs stood for more than just musical creativity. Like many great artists before and after him, Bowie had something meaningful to say and people were willing to listen to him. He was the first ‘weird’ artist for many: his flamboyant clothing and eccentric ways helped him stand out. He never pretended to be anything but himself. He was the icon of a generation. Sexually liberating, he helped many people feel comfortable in their own skin, as they realised it was okay to be different. He challenged the social norms, rebelling against conformist ideologies as he was brave enough to announce his everchanging sexual preferences. His lyrics and ideologies helped kick-off the liberation of the LGBT+ community, as they felt like they had someone – a very high-profile someone – on their side.

It seemed like everything he did was a work of art. Even on his death bed, Bowie decided to use his final days and turn them into something beautiful, as he filmed his music video for Lazarus. He was a wonderful man, and will always be remembered as such.

It was easy to fall in love with Bowie, and it is also easy to realise how much of an impact he had on a generation. The general public were not the only ones who were inspired

by Bowie’s work: artists such as Lady Gaga, Arctic Monkeys, the Killers and Kesha all said that Bowie was one of their major creative influences. But how can someone’s work touch the hearts of so many people?

Music has always been revolutionary, influencing people’s thoughts and bringing us together as a community. It has helped bring the power back to the people, and with every great musical revolution, there have been great singers and songwriters to back it up.

From the Jazz era in the early 60s, to the rise of rap and hip-hop, musicians have liberalised our beliefs and shaped our culture.

The age of rock, with musicians such as the Beatles and the Who, was one of the first

shifts in society, as younger generations used this music to shape their morals and beliefs.

In the USA, singers such as Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry helped desegregate a nation as white, middle-class teenagers started having black idols – and began to understand the hardships that they had faced.

Bands such as Led Zeppelin advertised sexual freedom and liberation. Younger people started viewing sex differently and it started becoming less of a taboo. The Beatles, by using and writing about psychedelic experiences and exploring the mind, helped introduce a drug culture that is still very much around today.

For better or worse, these musicians were fearless, and served as perfect icons for a frustrated society. They were the muchneeded rebels. Each decade had their own idol, a person that gave society hope.

M

usical idols are not the only people to have inspired a change in society.

Street artists, such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey, have raised political questions with their controversial art. With the help of the media, their work has been able to touch

“Music has always been revolutionary, influencing people’s thoughts and bringing us together” people all over the world, informing them about political injustices through art. Banksy art is about capitalism and how it is affecting the world – it is about the greed of politicians and war. Being anonymous allows Banksy to have as much freedom of speech as he wants, a thing that people strive for nowadays in order to assert their freedom and rights.

Furthermore, being anonymous means that he can never be silenced: no one is able to shut him down. His anonymity is a statement of its own. He’s suggesting that the world we live in would not allow a political artist to grow without censoring or controlling their work. People are intrigued by his mystery and boldness. People are beginning to make a stand through their own art. It is, much like music, the silent revolutionary.

Was it fame that helped these artists influence generations, or did their influential work make them famous? These people helped shape a nation throughout time. Their controversial statements created uprisings and cultural revolutions. Over time these icons, like Bowie, will sadly pass away and leave our world heartbroken. After all, they are only human. However, the mark they left on past generations will never be erased.

Their words will go on and their memory will last a lifetime.

Photo: Flickr, Stephen Luff

26th January 2016

13

Features

my generation

c inspiration c frustration

Lillie Coles discusses the differences between our lives and those of our parents, and the increasing sense of competition prevalent today

W

e are all familiar with the phrases “Back in my day” or “When I was young” but how much can our parents and grandparents really relate to the world we now live in?

Times are changing rapidly – so much so that society today is almost unrecognisable to how it was when our parents were in education.

With more people attending university than ever before, there is an overwhelming feeling of competition amongst young people. It is not only the looming cost of university that is making wallets (and hopes) seem empty, it is the temporary nature of our world.

We are the recession generation, overwhelmed by a feeling of pessimism. We have watched businesses closing down; we have seen people losing their jobs; we have seen the damage debt causes. The days of community, local businesses and job security are over. We are left with the bleak prospects of a sparse job market, with the overriding sense of “every man for himself”, and a reluctance to plan for a future that seems so fleeting.

As alien as it may seem to our parents, life is difficult and expensive these days, especially for students and young people. Grants are a thing of the past, with the government deciding to scrap them completely from this autumn. It is impossible to know what the future holds, so investing in it can seem a daunting prospect. Careers do not last forever, and the days of having a single job for your entire working life are over. When asked at school what we wanted to be when we grew up, the idea of being pessimistic, unemployed

and in debt did not seem like a possibility.

Sadly, these are the realities we face.

Finding a house and paying a mortgage is no longer as appealing a prosptect as it may have seemed years ago. With the average house price in 1973 being £9,767, it is shocking that this rose to £178,124 by 2014. This 1,724% increase in house prices means it is 18 times more expensive to buy a home than it was 50

“Life is difficult and expensive these days, especially for students” years ago. If our salaries had risen to match this status, we should be earning 45% more than we currently are. This imbalance in earnings and costs discourages many young people from buying homes. For many it is actually impossible. It is incredibly difficult to manage our money, especially in the recession generation we live in.

We are working to better our future prospects, but with free tuition being a thing of the past and a lack of financial support, we are risking it all in the hopes of bettering ourselves. This is an admirable risk, perhaps something the older generations just cannot understand. With university no longer only welcoming the top 1% of students, there are fewer jobs for us, and competition is high. It is frightening to think about how different the world will be when it is time for us to use the phrase “Back in our day...”

26th January 2016

14

Features

How to bear witness?

International Holocaust Remembrance Day Olivia Minnock asks whether there is ever a “right” way to commemorate a tragedy

such as Auschwitz have been labelled places of “dark tourism”, the description implying that people may take an unhealthy enjoyment or interest in visiting places were murderous acts have taken place. Nevertheless, surely visiting such places is better than ignoring them or denying their significance?

Furthermore, anyone who has visited a concentration camp – where it is no exaggeration to say that an atmosphere of death and devastation lingers – will realise that this is not a pleasurable activity. It is a poignant one, and it is no doubt frightening, but it has none of the attached thrill. It is simply a place we can stand, look, touch and try to get our heads around the fact that this was real. It actually happened, and not hundreds of years ago, either. Regardless of initial reasons for visiting such locations, the impact of such an experience cannot be disputed.

You go through this touching and emotional experience, however, to exit via a cafe and a gift shop. Something about this feels a little wrong. But there is also the argument that, without these elements, a visit to a place such as Auschwitz may simply prove too much to bear. As the profits are going toward an appropriate cause, such as charities to support Holocaust survivors or research into the Holocaust, then a shop selling informative material – rarely souvenirs – should not cause huge problems.

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or the dead and the living, we must bear witness”. Eli Wiesel’s words stress the importance of remembering those events we might rather forget, of paying attention to what might be more pleasantly ignored. Commemerations take place throughout the year to remember victims of war and genocide, and International Holocaust Remembrance Day is just one example of an attempt to honour those lost, comfort those left behind and – perhaps most importantly – keep such tragedies in mind in the hope we may be prevent it happening again. With remembrance so important, however, we are inevitably drawn to question how one should remember, how we can ensure a respectful and dignified means of educating and honouring without offending or causing more pain.

The existence of this international day of remembrance illustrates that efforts to commemorate in a “proper” or “correct” way remain at the forefront of our minds. In 2005, the UN general assembly marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps towards the end of the Second World War. It was decided that, rather than having national days of remembrance, which are still observed from country to country, there would be an international day of memorial in which every country could participate. 27th January, the date of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp, was chosen to mark the occasion.

Since 2006, events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day have included the unveiling of a mobile exhibit at the UN headquarters organised by Yad Vashem, a Jewish group that documents and commemorates the Holocaust. The exhibit was entitled No Child’s Play: Remembrance and Beyond, and focused on the experience of child victims of the Holocaust, showing their toys, pictures, diaries and other examples of what their lives would have been like.

Showing has a much bigger impact than telling, and exhibitions such as this would have stayed with visitors forever.

The designation of a special “day” to be put aside would continue to remind the public and those in power of the impact of genocide on people of all ages. According to then UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, it served as “an important reminder of the universal lessons of the Holocaust, a unique evil which cannot simply be forgotten”.

The importance, therefore, of taking time and effort to commemorate events such as the Holocaust, which took the lives of an estimated six million Jews and five millions others, is easy to understand. Problems, however, can often lie in the manner in which we choose to remember. With any atrocity, this can be a contentious and potentially explosive issue.

For example, as most of us do not need to be

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reminded, in November 2015 terror attacks in Paris took the lives of 130 people, left over 300 injured and a city devastated. How to commemorate it? Facebook gave its users the opportunity to change their profile pictures temporarily to include a filter of the tricolore.

While the intent was undoubtedly good, and many people felt this showed support to victims of terrorism and assured the world that the events would not go unnoticed, many took a different stance. The action was labelled slacktivism, and those who had chosen to use the filter were accused of doing so for attention, or mistakenly “thinking they were helping”.

People’s intent in commemorating events such as this can often be misconstrued, and this can lead to a lot of distress caused by something which, like the Facebook filter, was only meant as a show of support. It was argued that the flag idea wrongly singled out France as the only affected nation, and also that people might take the attitude that they had “done their bit” by simply clicking a Facebook link, which of course would not be enough to combat terrorism or provide any real assistance to its victims across the globe.

When it comes to a globally-recognised issue such as Holocaust memorial, much more is done than simply clicking a button on social media. One can’t help but feel that adding a star of David or similar symbol to our

Facebook or Twitter pages would result in more injury and insult than anything else – and not least because it would ignore so many non-Jewish victims. How best to remember, then?

Regarding the Holocaust, an overrunning theme tends to be unity: emphasis is placed on the fact that everyone was and is affected’ everyone should be angered by what happened; and everyone should take time to remember. Last year, at the 70th anniversary celebrations of the liberation of Auschwitz, Prince Charles described the genocide as “an unparalleled human tragedy”, and “a warning and a lesson to all of us, to all faiths in all times.”

The emphasis on the Holocaust as something relating to humanity as a whole, and not just to any one group, is something which must be remembered. But it can easily be eclipsed by the tendency to imagine two very definite sides: the Nazis and the Jews, as if it were only a lesson to be learned in Germany, or only in Europe, or only in the West. The reality, as always, is much more complicated.

The commercialisation of the Holocaust has also caused issues for some. Locations

he idea of making profits from Holocaust-related items came to the forefront late last year, when Anne Frank Fonds, which owns the copyright to the Diary of a Young Girl, tried to name Anne’s father, Otto, as co-author, along with the book’s translator, Mirjam Pressler. This was to stop material entering into the public domain to be read freely, which should happen, according to most European law, 70 years after the death of the author. To name Otto as co-author would extend the copyright, thus preventing the diaries from being downloaded freely.

A counter-argument put forward by French academic Olivier Ertzscheid, who published the Dutch-language version of the diary online, is that it “belongs to everyone. And it is up to each one of us to weigh its importance”. Perhaps, then, the diary should be freely available for all?

However, it must also be noted that, according to their website, Anne Frank Fonds uses proceeds from book sales, for “charitable and educational projects worldwide”. For the most part, the sale of books about the Holocaust and the profits made by historical sites, such as the Anne Frank house and various concentration camps, are not simply going into the pockets of corporations.

However, there is also an argument that such information should be free to all, and that memorial and remembrance are cheapened when you have to pay for them.

No matter how you choose to remember, it is important that you do, and that you take time to do so. Whether we need a specific day to remind us, whether we make trips to see evidence of what happened, or whether we choose to purchase a book which will give us an insight into the human side of such tragedy, we must always remember. Most of us do not claim to be “helping”: we don’t know how. The important thing is that we recognise the importance of not allowing history to be repeated.

26th January 2016

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Comment

An English national anthem would proclaim what we stand for as a country Adam Stokes

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Ps have given their initial support to the English national anthem bill, following a motion put forward by Chesterfield MP, Toby Perkins, that proposed the introduction of an anthem specifically for England. This anthem would be used at international sporting events, such as football and rugby matches, in which England have its own independent team. Currently, God Save the Queen, which is the anthem for the UK as a whole, is used.

There is, of course, no real reason why England, as a country with such a proud history and culture, should not be allowed its own anthem; people can take pride in being English as well as British. Given that Wales can proudly sing Land of My Fathers, and Scotland Flower of Scotland, it seems a reasonable proposition. Equally, it is logical that God Save the Queen should be saved for special occasions in which the four home nations come together, the incredible success of Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games being one example of this.

Nonetheless, there are a number of issues which first need to be addressed. To begin with, there is the question of what would make a fitting national anthem for the English? The current favourite, according to most polls, is Jerusalem. This famous hymn, composed by Hubert Perry, is based on a poem by William Blake, and talks of how Jesus walked on England’s “green and pleasant land”. However, its historical accuracy is questionable to say the least, and it is debatable whether it would be suitable, especially given its notably Christian associations, as an anthem to unite our multicultural nation. Edward Elger and AC Benson’s Land of Hope and Glory, and Ross Parker and Hughie Charles’s There’ll Always Be an England are also popular suggestions.

But, like Jerusalem, these are both very traditional, patriotic choices. It might be nice to take the opportunity to try out something more contemporary and unorthodox, such as David Bowie’s Heroes or Monty Python’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – although personally I feel this would be better left for when England are knocked out of their next football tournament, most likely on penalties.

It is also unclear how this new national anthem would be selected: via referendum, or by MPs in parliament? When proposing the motion, Perkins suggested an “X Factor style programme”. Whilst this may seem a little outlandish, it could provide a fantastic opportunity to bring the country together, in a Sports Personality of the Year sort of occasion, celebrating England and English identity.

Perhaps we might be more disposed to taking pride in an anthem we have selected for ourselves; certainly, at the moment, those who know more than the words to the first verse and chorus of God Save the Queen are few and far between.

Regardless of what England chooses for its national anthem, or how the selection is made, this is important decision for the people of this country, and one which should not be overlooked. This is our chance to decide not only what we stand for as a nation, but also what we wish to stand for in the future, and to declare it to the world.

Photo: pixabay.com, Jan Mallander

Legislation needs to hold landlords to account, or it’s young people who will be put at risk Joe Rutter

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ameron, Osborne and around 39% of Tory MPs share an interesting private vocation: not golf, as it turns out, but landlordship. Indeed, 194 MPs from across the Commons are landlords – one of whom, Newbury MP Richard Benyon, tried to turf out an entire estate of tenants in the New Era scandal last year.

Is it all that surprising, then, that Labour’s proposed amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill, which would have ensured homes are made fit for human habitation by landlords, was rejected in the Commons by a majority of 93 votes? Many MPs will surely be rubbing their hands with glee at these relaxed regulations, while tenants find themselves without any channel of reprieve, should they find damp walls, structural flaws or rat infestations. In fact, the vested interest of politicians in the housing market doesn’t end there, with 18 MPs also involved in at least one property company; combined with the fact that a negligible number of MPs actually rent their homes, it is clear that the legislation is entirely out of touch with our growing nation of renters.

For young people in particular, there is a very real danger that the housing market will go from being a rent trap to an actual death trap. Let’s be honest: for most students, renting a house for the first time is something of a wild stab in the dark. You’ve only just learnt how to wash your clothes to an acceptable standard, and now a landlord is giving you a lease to sign, a deposit and a set of keys to a place which looked measurably cleaner in

the pictures. Without the clause that would give you the legal right to hold landlords to account over inhabitable conditions, many will be left vulnerable to exploitation.

Even the savviest of students can be caught out by cowboy landlords. A friend at Bournemouth University has told me of a damp patch consuming his bedroom wall,

“Can we accept a system where the laws are made for the personal profit of those who make them?” which has given him a persistent cough and an increased risk of developing asthma. He also had cause for concern when an electrician arrived at his house to fix a disconnected earth wire, which could have given any of the tenants a severe electric shock. His landlord emailed him last semester confirming that repairs would be made, but so far, these have not been forthcoming, and it has fallen to the university accommodation office to move him to a safer residence.

Elsewhere, I have heard of faulty boilers, sunken bedframes and leaks in the ceiling, which landlords have only repaired when it suits them. It shouldn’t be taken for granted that UEA has Homerun, an organisation which educates and supports students to ensure they avoid the pitfalls of renting – this is not necessarily the case at other universities – yet personally I feel there is even more Homerun

could do to hold landlords to account. Wider publication of a blacklist of bad landlords, for example, could help students to avoid these pitfalls, and the encouragement of frequent meetings between landlords and tenants could assist in troubleshooting any problems that arise.

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onetheless, Homerun may be the answer to the human habitation problem in microcosm. As well as a law that would have enshrined landlord culpability for acceptable living conditions, MPs have, in the past, also rejected a regulatory body which would help tenants to steer clear of the cowboys and keep the rest in check.

The Shadow Housing and Planning Secretary, Teresa Pearce, who tabled the amendment, made the comparison with buying food in a supermarket, where the consumer has a great deal more power to ensure they’re getting products of an acceptable standard. However, the Tories seem not to care for consumer rights where their interests in market investment are at stake. Can we accept a system where the laws are made for the personal profit of those who make them?

The rejection of this amendment marks a victory for a neoliberal housing agenda that empowers the landlord at the expense of the tenant, and cares little for the gaping disparity between supply and demand in housing. You can never tell when and where a rat infestation will appear. It seems the House of Commons itself has one, but fortunately for the rats, they have the majority.

26th January 2016

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Comment

Our approach to Celebrities are not ours to mourn. Instead, we should organ donation is celebrate their lives Alec Mann changing – but not rapidly enough I Phoebe ArslanagicWakefield

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he UK is changing its approach to organ donation. Unfortunately, it is only a minor change. Previously, upon an individual’s death, NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT), the body which regulates and operates organ donation, had to seek the consent of the relatives of the deceased to ask if they wished to use their right to veto the donation. Now, the NHSBT no longer specifically asks for consent, but will still bow to the veto.

This is a step in the right direction, but nevertheless, not far enough. You could devote your entire life to campaigning for organ donation, write fervently and publically in favour of organ donation, and diligently carry your donation card on your person at all times. Yet still, upon your death, if your parents were to turn up at the hospital and use their right to veto the donation of your organs, you would be left with no recompense but to roll violently in your grave.

Moreover, such vetoes have serious ramifications. Last year, family members blocked the donation of 547 donors. Had those 547 people been allowed to donate, they could

“The opt-out system would be a good fit for us” have provided organs for 1,200 people in dire need of them.

In the UK, it is currently only Wales that operates an opt-out system, rather than the opt-in system used in England. Opt-out means that we are all automatically donors, and must act positively in order to no longer be one, as opposed to have to make the positive effort to become a donor.

Critics of the opt-out system feel that it is presumptuous, and indeed it is: presumptuous of kindness and generosity, and certainly nothing sinister. Around 22.9 million adults in the UK give to charity every month. We are a generous nation; the opt-out system would be a good fit for us.

Furthermore, the opt-out system better suits human nature. The opt-in system forces us to grapple with the nature of our mortality, and the unpleasantly morbid images that accompany it. The opt-out system, on the other hand, allows both the ambivalent and the willing to donate with minimum effort, whilst ensuring those who feel strongly that they do not want to donate can sign out in an easy and simple manner.

The NHSBT is making progress with small changes, and we can only hope that this will one day be followed by the introduction of the opt-out system in England and in the rest of the UK. Nonetheless, the fact that the NHSBT will no longer have to make the effort to seek out the consent of relatives when a registered organ donor has died must be applauded as an excellent development. There are 6,578 people currently waiting for transplants in the UK. Their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, have been put on hold, trapped in a hideous waiting room. Some of these people will die on the waiting list. All reasonable steps should be taken to reduce such wholly unnecessary loss of life. The opt-out system would provide an important piece in this puzzle.

t would be fair to say that, so far, 2016 hasn’t been great. In the past few weeks, the world has suffered the losses of David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Glenn Frey (founding member of the Eagles), Lemmy Kilmeister, Natalie Cole and Daniel Dion.

Reactions to their deaths have varied. In some cases, the media has responded with compassion and sympathy for those left behind, the family and friends who have lost someone close to them. For others, the deaths have been used as an opportunity to further causes; to argue about issues they were involved in throughout their life; and to criticise those who are mourning.

Personally, it seems counterproductive for most of us to react with too much despondency. We know these people largely in the context of their work. They are icons;:people we do not know, but rather know of. From this perspective, we should celebrate their lives, not mourn their loss as if we personally were close to them.

Take, for example, David Bowie. His career stretched back to the 60s and was filled with an astonishing variety of wonderful songs and performances that will remain as his legacy for years to come. He lived till the age of 69, an impressive feat considering his Thin White Duke era, a time when he lived on a diet of cocaine, peppers and milk.

Rather than mourning his death, we should be celebrating the amazing feats that this incredible human being accomplished in his lifetime, and feel privileged to have been alive at the same time as him. His death is not a tragedy. Whilst he was alive, he always made the most of it, in spite of a plethora of personal issues. Sickeningly, people have insisted on bringing some of these up now that he is no longer around to defend himself. Bowie lived life to the full; that is the most any of us can hope to achieve.

The idea that people think it is clever and original to capitalise on the death of a famous person is in extremely bad taste. Accusing Bowie of doing some morally dubious things in the 70s is now essentially pointless. He is not here to answer to them – and in any case, there is no substantial evidence of any

Photo: www.francebleu.com wrongdoing.

Emma Watson has recently received a great deal of criticism for quoting Alan Rickman on feminism and has been accused of using him to further her own cause, something else I find to be pointless. Why condemn a personal friend of the deceased when she is only quoting his own words, with no room for contextual inaccuracies, when Rickman was himself a declared feminist?

This is an opinion Rickman personally expressed, and I’m sure he would be happy for a cause he supported to be furthered, however slightly, in the sad event of his passing away.

Rickman, Lemmy, Bowie: these are all people whose work we rejoiced in whilst they

were alive, and there is no reason we cannot continue to celebrate them now that they are gone. Some of us may feel a sense of loss at their passing; I know many people found comfort in Bowie’s constantly changing identity, especially with regards to gender and sexuality, and in Rickman’s complex portrayal of conflicted characters. Sometimes they did indeed help us with our own issues, but this does not mean that we knew them as people. We should maintain our love for their work, but not mourn them as our own. We can feel sad that we will see no more of them, whilst remembering to cherish the fact that they were here, producing incredible work for us to respond to, and that their creations will live on now they are gone.

Damage can be caused by the alleged covering up of sexual assault cases in Sweden Lucinda Swain

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olice in Sweden have been accused of covering up cases of sexual harassment by groups of immigrants at the We Are Sthlm music festival in Stockholm in 2014, as well as at other open-air events in the past few years. This emerges after reports of similar assaults in Malmö and other cities on New Year’s Eve, including the attacks in Cologne, which the authorities were originally reluctant to report accurately. There has been a huge increase in violent crime and reported rape in Sweden over the past 40 years; this has been connected by some newspapers to the rise in immigration, a link which has greatly affected the country’s friable race relations, and hardened attitudes towards refugees.

Some reports have linked the violence specifically to gangs of Balkan and Middle Eastern origin, among other refugee groups, fighting for control of the drugs trade. With 40 unsolved gang murders on police files at the end of 2015, it is clear that they just don’t know whom they’re dealing with. The mass sexual assaults in Sweden have had a devastating effect, with co-ordinated mob groping and other criminal violations against women

being under-reported and alledgedly covered up by the police, out of fear of being branded racist.

According to statistics, Sweden, has the second highest number of recorded rapes in the world, after South Africa. Between 2004 and 2012, the population of Sweden increased from nine to 9.5 million, largely due to mass immigration from countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. According to Kristina Ljungros and Maria Andersson, two leading campaigners with the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education, “a large part of these unaccompanied boys come from societies with norms and values around gender and sexuality that in many ways differ from mainstream Swedish society”.

This is seen as being partly to blame for the attacks in Sweden, Germany and elsewhere in Europe. It is referred to as ‘TaharrushGamea’: girls and young women subjected to assaults which sometimes escalate into rape. Another Swedish sex education group are looking to launch a training programme to “teach young refugee boys arriving in the Nordic country about sexual health and rights”.

It’s not only women in Sweden who are under threat. The Swedish newspaper Expressen has reported cases of people from LGBT+ communities being from attacked and assaulted, including two migrants who were charged for allegedly beating a gay man to death before dressing him in women’s clothing and wrapping a snake around his neck. Other cases range from the molesting of girls as young as 12, to two transgender women being stoned in Germany.

Stefan Lofven, the Swedish Prime Minister, has said that migrants as a social group should not be blamed for the attacks, denouncing the “double betrayal” of women and promising further investigation. This kind of controversy is particularly detrimental to Sweden, which has given a home to more refugees per capita than any other country in Europe. Its muchvaunted pride over sexual equality and liberal ‘grown up’ treatment of its citizens is severely tarnished by its suppression of the facts; the cover up will be more damaging than revealing the truth would have been. It casts a bad light not only on Sweden, but equally on those seeking refuge from war-torn countries.

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26th January 2016

Science&Environment

Pollutants threatening numerous dolphin – we need to act Sophie Christan Sci&Env writer

From watching numerous David Attenborough marine life documentaries, we know that humanity needs to reduce the amount of pollutants carelessly dumped into the ocean. Studies have shown that killer whales and dolphins are currently under serious threat from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a complex organic molecule, meaning these marvellous mammals could face extinction as a result of the toxins.

During the 1920s, PCBs were manufactured to be used in electrical gear, paints and flame retardants, but were banned in the 80s due to their negative effect on humans and animals.

Europe is currently a hotspot for PCBs, as it produced around 300,000 tonnes from 1954-84, approximately 15% of the world’s total. PCBs have far-reaching impacts, such as causing cancer, suppressing the immune system and possible reproductive problems, which are dire for both humans and animals.

The chemicals have not been disposed of properly since their prohibition, as they have leaked into rivers and estuaries from landfills, and also into the marine environment. The substances eventually work their way up the food chain and into the top marine predators, with the concentration of PCBs being highest at this stage. Surely if we were more considerate towards the natural world, and the beauty it holds, then we would not have to contemplate losing an entire species?

From watching Free Willy, I have always had an appreciation for Orcas; it is impossible not to feel overjoyed when the whale is reunited with his pod. It is therefore shocking to know that there are only eight killer whales left around Scotland and Ireland; clearly we need to invest in significantly reducing PCBs to avoid worsening these figures. This pollutant is a serious threat to these species; because researchers discovered, from samples taken from more than 1,000 killer whales and dolphins, that PCBs still remain at dangerously high levels in European dolphins and wales.

The western Mediterranean Sea and

Tim Peake becomes first Brit to walk in space Louise Fitzgerald Sci&Env writer It’s been just over a month since British astronaut Tim Peake reached the International Space Station, and despite calling the first 24 hours “pretty rough” and describing feelings of dizziness and isolation, he appears to be coping well.

On 15th January, Peake made history, becoming the first British person to ever perform a spacewalk. Along with his fellow flight engineer, Tim Kopra, the pair were expected to undertake a six hour long spacewalk in order to repair a broken power unit on the outside of the station.

The spacewalk, which lasted four hours, was cut short after a water globule developed inside Tim Kopra’s helmet. It is thought that the water came from a leaking cooling system.

It is NASA policy to terminate spacewalks when water globules develop, after an

Photo: Flickr: Christopher Michel south-western Iberian Peninsula are specific hotspots for PCBs, where the toxins accumulate in the cetacean’s blubber. Dr Jepson believes that the contamination is affecting their breeding as they are mammals with high-fat milk. He states “when the female incident in 2013, when a significant helmet leak nearly drowned Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano.

Despite the mishap, NASA have declared the spacewalk a success, as the pair repaired a faulty solar panel and laid some new cables in order to return full power to the space station for the first time since November.

Peake described his first spacewalk as “exhilarating” and said it will “be etched in my memory forever - quite an incredible feeling”. Following the spacewalk Peake posted a series of photos from outside the space station, including a selfie.

Whilst Peake is in space, it’s expected he will take part in eight experiments for the European Space Agency to see just what longterm space flight does to the human body. In one of these experiments Peake will have to take regular readings of his lung function. In the space station’s sealed environment dust and other particulate matter can build up in the air and irritate astronauts’ eyes and lungs.

It is hoped that this experiment could further research into asthma and other respiritory illnesses which affect over 300 million people globally.

In February it’s expected that some UEA students will get the chance to speak to Peake, along with the City of Norwich School, Norwich School and Reepham High School it’s likely that students will have a 10 minute direct radio link-up with the astronaut and the chance to ask questions.

is pregnant, and then gives birth to her calf, she can potentially offload up to 90%of her body burden of PCBs through the milk, through long lactation”. Fewer calves are surviving; more action needs to be taken on removing PCB-laden waste on land. We may

Photo: Flickr: NASA Johnson

not achieve a harmonious Hollywood ending similar to that in Free Willy in trying to reduce the damage already inflicted on killer whales and dolphins, but starting to dispose of PCB’s properly is a positive step towards saving these species.

26th January 2016

New discovery suggests earlier human presence in the Arctic Nick Brown Sci&Env writer Scientists from the Russian Academy of Science in Saint Petersburg have discovered a well-preserved mammoth carcass in Northwest Siberia. The bones of the extinct animal display distinctive cut marks, which could only have come from hunting and butchery tools made from stone and ivory materials.

This discovery has allowed anthropologists and scientists to suggest that humans had migrated to the Arctic Circle some 45,000 years ago. This is exciting, as previous evidence had indicated humans weren’t present until 10,000 years after this date.

Prior to the discovery, evidence of human settlements in the Arctic Circle were found at Mamontovaya Kurya in European Arctic Russia. This discovery suggested that humans had migrated to Arctic climes a few thousand years after their first appearance in Europe.

Before this, it was believed that this vast region was only inhabited some 14,000 years ago, at the final stage of the last ice age.

This discovery has given scientists a unique insight into the lives of early human

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Science&Environment settlers from 45,000 years ago. The marks found on the mamoth bones signify the skill and organisation that these early humans required to be effective hunters and tool makers. The injuries to the head and ribs of the mammoth support the theory that weapons were used to fell the organism, and is supported by methods used by elephant poachers today in African game reserves.

Human use of mammoths throughout their existence has been a huge driver of human development and survival, especially though the harshest parts of the ice age.

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Humans migrated to the Arctic 45,000 years ago, 10,000 years earlier than previously thought

Mammoths would have provided a highenergy food source and their coat would have provided ample warmth from the harsh winds and frozen conditions of settlements.

Not only this, but their tusks and bones would have provided a vital source of practical materials in a landscape which was lacking in suitable supplies for tool and weapon making.

Most of West Siberia was a frozen wasteland, with many resources lacking in abundance, which explains why the human-mammoth relationship was so important.

This scientific discovery has provided a new insight into the puzzling question: how did humans first settle the Americas? One suggestion from this study was that humans eventually may have crossed over the Bering Strait before it became impassable due to the severity of the last ice age. The research team stated that, “the finds don’t give an immediate answer, but allow thinking about the possibilities. It will give a new stimulus for further research”.

What’s new in science Archaeologists have discovered the earliest evidence of warfare between hunter-gatherers in northern Kenya American astronomers are presenting evidence for a ninth planet far beyond Pluto The memory capacity of the brain is ten times more than previously believed, in the petabyte range

Russia has proposed the use of a nuclear explosion in the event of an apocalyptic asteroid collision with Earth to knock it off course Colonies of microbes cause areas of desert are hotter than their surroundings Plastics in the oceans will outweigh fish by 2050 Geckos exist at the maximum size for being able to stick to smooth vertical walls

A new biomarker discovered may identify which stage two colon cancer patients would benefit from adjuvent therapy to prevent recurrence Scientists in the Netherlands are developing a biopsy robot to help with diagnosis of cancer and muscle diseases Scientists have found that carbon dioxide concentrations in seawater could reach levels high enough to ‘intoxicate’ fish 2015 smashed global temperature records as the warmest year ever Algae toxin exposure increases the risk of Alzheimers-like diseases

Photos Top: Flickr, Steve Jurvetson Bottom: Flickr, Club Med UK

have you thought about leading the student union? why not run in the leadership race and lead your SU in 2016?

for more info and to get involved head online to ueastudent.com/run

lead

26th January 2016

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Travel

Photo: Flickr, Tejvan Pettinger. Below: Wikimedia, David Iliff

Past and present: the two faces of Oxford O

xford is a city of two completely different tales. As soon as you are there, you garner a sense of its incredible history and nobility, which is shown greatly through the luxury of the royal architecture.

However, you can also perceive the influence of modern taste and the declining affluence.

Oxford, upon my second visit, tells me a story of mystery and grandeur, of simplicity and the interesting visibility of humanity’s changes throughout history. Plenty of magnificent ancient buildings thrust in to the skyline and the air of the city is pervaded by an overwhelming sense of dignity and antiquity.

The architecture of the university buildings suggests a secret world of prosperity. The magnificence of the fine dining facilities, the delicate flowery patterns sealed on the carpets, the exquisite furniture made from rich, crimson, wood inside the old buildings: these are all testament to the exquisite skills of the old-time builders and the flourishing of medieval England.

For almost a thousand years, the marvellous architecture of the Oxford buildings has proudly stood in its place. King Henry II built the university in the 12th century, whilst buildings found in the city can be dated from around the Saxon era. It is overwhelming to think that such intricate architecture has lasted for such an age, and continues to be enjoyed by tourists from all over the world.

Zhou Miaorou explores the ancient and modern faces of the city of dreaming spires

Wandering around the city, you are able to instantly spot the grand architectures of an ancient age, and see why this city remains undoubtedly a magnificent marvel preserved as part of the Britain’s history. However, you cannot help but wonder what work must have gone in to building a city of such great stature. The blood and sweat of that antique society’s poorer people, the builders and the architects, must be recognised as having been the moving force in creating this magnificent city for the aristocrats. The buildings are themselves stories of mystery and concealment, of dark hidden secrets. It is important to remember how, though it was the rich people of society who were able to enjoy the buildings, they were only able to do so because of the hard work of the city’s poorer residents.

Looking at the city today, it is well known as a centre for intellectuals, teachers, and learners alike. Oxford is a place where modern life continues to flourish around its history. Like other cities, there are

plenty of small independent shops alongside more well-known high street chains.

Restaurants serving up all different types of international cuisine fill up the city’s spaces, refreshing the tourists who are ravenous after a day of exploration. The newer buildings are smaller in their size, the shop windows decorated elegantly with pretty plant pots filled with beautiful flowers, and people walk across the city with perfect ease. The city life here is simple and easy to feel involved in, letting the city maintain a sense of being current amidst its heavy history.

This is why Oxford is a city of two halfs: it is distinctly ancient and modern all at once.

Grand yet also simple, it combines its two aspects in effortless harmony. Gradually, the simplicity of the modern architecture, with all its clean lines and basic visuals, will perhaps flourish and surround the older, grander buildings.

Though the current age continues to take over the city and makes it busy and occupied, and somehow indifferent to its history, it is now a noble place for another generation, and again acquires the blood and sweat of builders.

It therefore tells a new story of grandeur and simplicity, of social inequality. The human need of luxury, however, remains the same.

Traveling to Oxford brings excitement, and what this city manifest throughout the history, for me, is mystery.

26th January 2016

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Travel

Reminiscing over Rio de Janeiro Dahlia Al-Abdullah Travel editor A city that runs on the swinging beat of soulful samba, Rio de Janeiro is a place you visit once, return to multiple times, and continue to dream of forever. It is easy to see why the city has gained the title of the Marvellous City: although it is incredibly chilled, there is an addictive energy. Days could be spent in the busy shopping district of Centro, or sipping on coconuts on Copacobana beach, two seemingly different worlds linked by one wild bus ride around Guanabara Bay. Although the two most well-known sights are perhaps the Christ the Redeemer statue on the Corcovado, and the iconic Sugarloaf mountain, there is so much more to do in this vibrant city. Taking a break in nature to spot some toucans in the Tijuca forest is just as likely to be part of the daily routine as is visiting a samba school in one of the city’s many favelas. Each and every neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro has its own unique vibe – from the Bohemian calm of Santa Teresa to its neighbour, Lapa, bustling with samba bars and cafes. With the 2016 Olympics being held in Rio, this is the year to consider visiting, or in fact re-visiting, this wonderful city.

Brazilian people are warm, generous, and full of life – nothing could reflect their spirit more than the colourful array of food available throughout the city. If you think you know what good food is, come to Brazil and you will discover a whole new world of deliciousness. Brazilian locals feast on food from street vendors: buttery corn-on-thecob, hot churros filled with dulce de leche, and frozen acai topped with granola. Taking a cooking lesson not only introduces you to the basics of Brazilian cooking, but to the richness and diversity of this vivid culture.

Not only will you leave feeling like you have learnt more about the Brazilian people but, as the Brazilians themselves say, you will gain the confidence to create exciting dishes with new ingredients that will make you want to throw open your windows and let the world

Forget planes: the real joy of travel is found on the railway line Zhou Miaorou Travel writer What is it about train travel that is utterly gripping? When you are travelling towards your destination, is it the views from the window that excite your heart and fill you with the desire to explore? Or perhaps it is the stress-free feeling of not having to spend time passing the never-ending barriers of security, or getting completely worked up trying to figure out what items to leave behind just to fit the baggage limit, as you do when taking a plane. In a plane, you can often feel trapped and enclosed in an area disconnected from the world outside, only being able to see clouds and perhaps the odd view of land. However, when you are on a train, it provides a truly engaging experience with the world as you are

Photo: Flickr, chensiyuan smell the mouth-watering aromas.

Samba: the name of the famous Brazilian dance celebrated through the annual carnivals and the music that beats throughout the city all day and night. In the summer, the samba schools open their doors for the whole day; both locals and tourists can feast on the famous Brazilian feijoada stew while the eyes admire the spirited performances put on by talented dancers and musicians. Throughout the city, schools like Manguiera host events where you can dance the day away with your new Brazilian friends, and end it with a toast of strawberry caipirinhas.

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable ways to get to know any city is visiting the local flea market. Rio hosts one on the first Saturday of every month in Rua Lavradio, where the road closes off any form of transport, allowing the stalls to spread from one end of the road to the other. Spend the day looking through stalls

selling anything from vintage telephones, to fragrant soaps shaped as extravagant wedding cakes, to plant pots painted in the colours of the Brazilian flag. Stall vendors here do not hassle, and instead welcome you to look around their goods and even invite you to sample that chocolate flavoured cachaca you had your eye on. The evening ends with a local band playing beats on the drums while strangers samba together in the street, the sun leaving a warm glow over the art deco pavements.

If you crave a peaceful haven, away from the bustling streets full of football fans and market merchants, head straight to Parque Lage. Perhaps overshadowed by the large Parque Flamengo, Lage park offers delights of its own and provides an adventurous space full of caves to climb through, and castles to climb up. Set against a backdrop of the Corcovado, this park is set in the Rio rainforest

continually connected to the landscape that you are travelling through.

So what makes train travel even more special than travelling on planes or other modes of transport? The constant motion of the train gives a continuous sense of energy; the open views outside your window present a continual temptation to throw yourself in to a new adventure. When you are consistently encompassed by the ever-changing landscapes of the world outside your window, you can remain intrigued and inspired by places you will perhaps never walk through, but can get a brief glimpse of That sense of magic lingers with the adventurer. Stirring up the imagination of the writer within you, you can begin to create stories stemming from the places you see from the near distance and dream about them whilst you rest your head against the window pane. Even when a traveller totally ignores the world outside whilst chatting with a friend, at any moment they can look outside and indulge their eyes in the generous beauty of the nature or urban landscapes that surround and envelope the railway. A train opens up the opportunity for the on-going exploring of the wonderful landscapes, if only for the eyes.

This is why I believe travelling by train is the best way to remain constantly adventuring, even whilst you have not reached your actual destination. Imagine you are flipping through

the pages of a book, your fingers gliding across the papers, then you look outside your window and right outside is a beautiful world blooming around you. You can see the open fields, animals running up and down the sides of a hill, a child smiling at you from the platform of a station you cannot pronounce.

You can imagine yourself being a part of it all, someone dear chasing you through those deep woods that are framing the window. Then you arrive at the deep end of the wood and you realize that your train is now stopping at your destination. It is what is happening on your side of the window that matters, a gaze in to the depth of your imagination and a longing for the outside mysteries.

When you are heading to any given destination, near or far, take the time to consider taking the train to get there. The eagerness, excitement, and the willingness to see your destination as soon as you enter the edge of that place is a special feeling. You won’t miss the first peek oas it first gradually appears in your view, as you would on a plane. That is the beauty of this mode of travel and why taking the train is becoming ever more popular for all kinds of travellers. We lose that sense of confinement that you feel when on a plane, and instead continuing to experience of the destination, nor the passing imageries, when they set foot on such a valuable journey that will fuel your imagination for years to come.

and houses a beautiful building complete with a pool of turquoise waters. Relax in the grounds with a typical Brazilian churrascaria or have a coffee in the cafe. Located near the beautiful Rodreigo de Freitas lagoon, where all different kinds of people take part in sports as diverse as cycling and pedal boats, it provides a day out for people of any age group and interest.

Visiting Rio without taking a tour of a favela would be a massive shame, especially one as beautifully colourful as Santa Marta.

You might have heard a whole host of stories about the dangers of walking through a favela – and many favelas are still not appropriate to visit alone as a tourist – but since it’s pacification Santa Marta has been nothing but welcoming to outsiders, whether from Rio, Brazil, or abroad.

Santa Marta is not the largest favela in Rio, but it was one of the very first to get pacified. Take a tour with a company that is created by the favelas residents, an important thing to look out for to make sure that you are feeding back in to the livelihood of the neighbourhood. You will normally be driven to the top, then with a guide you will walk down through the favela looking at the crowded houses and meeting the residents.

People who live in the favela are extremely cheerful in welcoming visitors to Santa Marta, and so even with a language barrier they do their best to communicate through arm gestures, ushering you in to their homes and showing you their families.

It is an incredibly special experience to visit the favela, because you get to see another completely different side of Rio; and it opens your eyes to some of the country’s major political issues. Wherever you visit in Rio, you can be sure that it will be special. The DNA of this city is so unique, it has a number of different personalities for you to continually explore and most probably never get tired of.

This colourful city is most definitely worth a visit for anyone; especially those who love to soak up a completely different culture. Rio de Janeiro is not only a city for dreaming about, but a city you must see.

Photo: Wikimedia, Bernard Pépellin

26th January 2016

22

Sport

Ayrton Senna on his way to victory in the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix Photo: Wikimedia, Iwao

Do the sons of F1 legends live up to their name?

Esther Veas Sport writer In motorsport every racer needs to find an edge to make them stand out so as to ensure a drive. Through the years being a “son of a legend” in motorsport has seemingly paved the way for many drivers, so how does this affect their subsequent careers?

Nico Rosberg, son of 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke, has enjoyed several successful seasons with Mercedes for the past six years, but has been unable to clinch the championship, having to settle for runnerup on two occasions. Sometimes, however, these second-generation drivers can arguably become even more well known than their predecessors by making a name for themselves.

Damon Hill enjoyed a successful career in Formula One, with one world title to his name, and is now a pundit for Sky Sports. Jacques Villeneuve, son of Gilles, managed to win the drivers championship in 1997, something that his father was never able to do before his untimely death at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix.

However, Jacques’s career as a racing driver went downhill from there, quietly retiring from Formula One in 2006. He now drives in the newly formed Formula E championship.

It is undeniable, however, that a famous name is very easy to use in publicity stunts, or as a way to get funding. In a competition reminiscent of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when fans enjoyed a thrilling rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, Senna’s nephew Bruno and Prost’s son Nicolas have taken part in a “race-off” as part of their participation in Formula E granted, it was in a video game.

Nevertheless, neither of them have been very successful in Formula One. While Nicolas has not got beyond a test role for Renault, Bruno, whose uncle once said those who thought he was good should “wait until you see my nephew”, raced during four seasons for different teams with some encouraging but overall rather poor results.

Former DTM (German Touring Car Masters) and endurance driver Mathias Lauda and endurance driver Freddie Hunt are filming a documentary called “Sons of Speed” about what, in Hunt Jr’s words, it is like to be “sons of motorsport royalty”. While their fathers took part in many an epic battle during the 1976 F1 season, both drivers will form part of the same team, DF1 Nascar Racing, to drive in the Euro Nascar’s 2016 season.

However, despite most of these drivers having had to settle for “secondary” championships like Formula E, a new generation of youngsters is now already reaching or fighting to get to the pinnacle of motorsport, mostly those whose fathers were successful in the 1990s or early 2000s.

Max Verstappen, son of Jos Verstappen, only turned 18 when the 2015 Formula One season was reaching its conclusion. Given that he started the season as a teenager, legally unable to drive in most European countries, could he be racing in Formula One thanks to his father? Either way, Max has proved himself this season, receiving awards for Rookie of the Year, Personality of the Year and Action of the Year at the FIA Prize Giving ceremony last December. His team-mate, Carlos Sainz Jr is fairly young too. Son of two-time World Rally Championship world champion Carlos Sainz, 21-year-old Carlos Jr had a worse season than his team-mate Verstappen but was able to score points on a number of occasions.

And surely not to be missed, Mick Schumacher has his sights set in Formula One. Michael Schumacher’s eldest son has scored a win and some podiums in ADAC Formula Four last season, yet Ferrari and Mercedes have reportedly been in touch with him already.

Very aware of the pressures his surname might bring him, he began his motorsport career under pseudonyms like Mick Betsch or Mick Junior.

Whether or not these relatives of great motorsport figures have got as far as they have solely based on personal merit is questionable; the fact that love for speed is a genetic trait, is not.

Photo: Wikimedia, DerHexer

Ronnie O’Sullivan annihilates Barry Hawkins 10-1 in 2016 Masters final James Chesson Sports Editor Ronnie O’Sullivan claimed a sixth Masters title after beating Barry Hawkins 10-1, making him the joint record holder for the numbr of Master titles held.

Hawkins won the first frame, but then fell victim to a masterclass from O’Sullivan, who took the next ten frames in a row. The final was the best of 19 frame, and O’Sullivan needed only 11. That extraordinary run included a hard-fought battle in one frame which was ultimately won by the eventual champion managing an incredible fluke to pot the pink. Both it and the cue ball bounced off the cushion perfectly to knock the pink into the opposite pocket to the one O’Sullivan was aiming at. O’Sullivan’s six Masters titles are matched only by Stephen Hendry.

The Masters is a hugely prestigious tournament, inviting the 16 highest-ranked players in the world to compete in a week long spectacle. Such a collection of topquality players was bound to produce some

entertaining snooker, and it did not disappoint.

O’Sullivan was in imperious form throughout the tournament, with his quarterfinal triumph over world number one Mark Selby especially scintillating. In what proved to be the final frame of the match Selby made a break of 70, leaving the table with just 73 points remaining. O’Sullivan duly cleared the table with a faultless display to clinch a semifinal place.

Hawkins’s final performance was an even greater disappointment in comparison to his semi-final victory over Judd Trump. The 6-4 victory included three centuries, and was a surprise given Hawkins’s stuttering form to that point and Trump’s excellent form.

The highlight of Trump’s tournament was edging a 6-5 win over Neil Robertson. Those two players produced six-century break between them, with Trump managing a 140 break which proved to be the highest in the tournament.

Hawkins’s shock victory over Trump denied the fans in the Crucible the opportunity to see a Trump-O’Sullivan final, but the tournament overall was full of exciting snooker.

26th January 2016

23

Sport

Should the FA bring end to cup replays?

Nick Murphy Sport writer The FA Cup needs restructuring. That is the view of a large quantity of football supporters from England’s top clubs, who, following the culmination of third round weekend, have seen their teams’ players fatigued by what they deem unnecessary replays. It begs the questions of what is to be done to restore this grand old competition back to its former glory.

While third round weekend retains that sense of charm and grandeur for football’s purists, there is no doubt that the competition has seen a decline in importance – and attendance – from the country’s top clubs.

Everton attracted a crowd of only 30,000 for their FA Cup tie against Dagenham & Redbridge compared with 38,482 for their league fixture against Spurs the previous weekend. While the level of opposition is obviously vastly inferior in this example, it serves to highlight a disparity in attendance between competitions, showcasing a far larger trend across the competition as a whole.

Of course, to supporters of smaller clubs such as Dagenham, Exeter, or Wycombe, all of which drew dream ties against top-level opposition, the cup provides a lifeline in terms of finances, but also a great day out for supporters. For larger clubs though, the FA Cup appears to be becoming an unnecessary distraction, especially during the early stages.

Liverpool fielded a side that included two debutants and a glut of fringe players against Exeter, while even our own Norwich City took the chance to rest key players in their defeat to Manchester City at Carrow Road. To put that into perspective, Norwich are a club without any type of domestic silverware since a League Cup win in 1985, and not even a last-four appearance in the FA Cup since 1992. For a mid-ranking Premier League club to be treating the competition with such obvious disdain is not only disrespectful to the competition itself,

Photo: Carlos yo, wikipedia.org but also to that club’s supporters. Overall it represents a degradation of the competition by elite level clubs, and something of an embarrassment to the FA as an organisation.

There are solutions to address the problems, however unpopular they may be.

The most obvious remedy to be suggested is

the scrapping of replays. Although often the provider of great finance for lower division clubs, replays are perhaps the biggest hindrance to those fighting for silverware on several different fronts. For Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, last week’s replay at Anfield represented the Reds’ 13th game in just 50

days, a sequence that will extend to 16 games in 60 days by the time Klopp’s side meet Leicester City on 2nd February. It is a run that has taken its toll on the Liverpool squad, forcing Klopp to play the kids after a recent spate of hamstring injuries.

The situation is the same for other clubs, and as a result managers are reluctant to afford their best players to the competition.

The scrapping of replays reduces fixture congestion, but also encourages more attacking football and exciting ties, the prospect of which drives up attendances. Alternatively, clubs could adopt a rule used by teams in nonleague’s cup competition, The FA Trophy. Here, the two sides agree whether or not the tie is to go to extra time or a replay in the event of a draw before the match, thus suiting the needs of both sides in question.

Another alternative to spruce up the 135-year-old competition is implementing a seeding system. This would come into force during round three, forcing Championship and Premier League sides to play away at smaller grounds, generating increased excitement and rewarding the clubs that have already negotiated two or more rounds.

Some, however, may argue that the FA Cup is in its best health for many years. Third round weekend has a renewed sense of belonging in the football calendar amongst the vitriol of ‘modern football’, and cup shocks are greater and more prominent than ever. Only last year, third-tier Bradford City knocked out Premier League champions elect Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge.

While top-division clubs continue to rest their best players, it opens the competition up to prospective challengers who otherwise would not stand a chance of advancing through to the latter stages. If the big boys want to take that risk, that is their prerogative.

For everyone else, however, the cup remains a key facet of English football, and something that is to be nurtured, rather than treated with unwarranted disdain.

Corruption and doping rear ugly heads Isabelle Wilson Sport writer As yet another corruption scandal broke on Monday, this time tarnishing the world’s top tennis players, any sports fan must surely be wondering who on earth can we trust?

The BBC have damning evidence that points a finger at 16 of the world’s top-ranking tennis players purposefully throwing games.

Although these players were repeatedly flagged to the TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit), all players were able to continue competing. The report suggests that high-powered betting agencies in Russia, northern Italy and Sicily have been approaching world famous players and incentivising them to throw matches for big pay outs. Even Novak Djokovic claims to have rejected an offer of £110,000 to throw a match early in his career.

Though the problem stems partially from the players, the root is to be found in those in higher positions of authority who attempt cover ups in order to protect themselves and make money.

Scandals amongst sport’s governing bodies has become fairly regular news.

The International Association of Athletic Federations is being investigated after being

accused of concealing the blackmailing of athletes in order to cover up state-sponsored doping in Russia. Fifa is similarly under investigation, with 14 current and former officials being charged with corruption by the US government.

The governing bodies at the top of the sporting food chain have seemingly been acting as they pleased, with the incentive being to make money instead of keeping the world of sport as honest as possible. With the fall of tennis one has to wonder how many more sports will descend into a murky underworld of corruption, match fixing and doping.

It begs the question, can sport truly be enjoyed if one can no longer believe or trust the outcome of a game? Much of the excitement of sport comes from the unknown, the unexpected and the possibility of any outcome on the day. But surely as more and more sports and athletes are revealed to have ulterior motives it will become harder and harder to retain faith in your sport.

The power of these governing bodies can also not be underestimated, as evidenced by Sepp Blatter retaining his role as President of Fifa even after serious accusations of corruption. The fans may dislike it, but ultimately they have little power over those who control their sports.

Seb Coe, president of the much-troubled IAAF Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

The only silver lining of the incessant flow of corruption in the news is the suggestion that the world of sport is being closely watched, and those partaking in an ugle side of sport are being hounded out. Those who attempt to control the outcome of sporting events, and cover up doping and blackmail clearly must be dealt with.

Whilst this may be the case, the sporting world has certainly taken a huge knock and people’s faith in the sports they love will likely be greatly affected.

Sporting events are supposed to be an inclusive environment in which fans, countries and different groups of people can come together to enjoy entertaining competition and show their support. But with wave after wave of scandal, the world of sport is becoming an increasingly sleazy and underhand world controlled by those put in place to keep it clean.

Of course corruption will always exist, and fan bases will likely remain, but those who inevitably suffer are the fans. Without faith in the players, and the outcomes of games, sport loses much of its purpose.

Hopefully the TIU scandal will be a turning point instead of another downward step, and this period of corruption in sport will become a moment in history that can be learned from.

Sport 26th January 2016 Issue 320

Sons of F1 legends not quite cutting it

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Sporting world beset by doping and corruption

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UEA Pirates off to promising start

>> Strong performances give cause for optimist as season gets underway Matthew Brown Sport writer The UEA Pirates lost to Brighton on Sunday having won two games, and lost the same prior to the winter break. With the Pirates now sitting at third place in the South East 1A division, behind the Brighton Tsunami and the Sussex Saxons, one may feel that it is time to discount UEA. However, this would be foolish, as there is still reason for great optimism.

The Pirates underwent big alterations in the offseason, with various coaching changes taking place, including Nathan Evans replacing previous head coach Andy Starling.

This marked a move from the defensiveminded Starling to the offensive-minded Evans. In addition, attacking weapon Henry Schön succeeded dominant defensive tackle James “Badman” Sabadaman as team captain.

Despite the transition, the Pirates surged win their first two games of the season.

Their first victory, 27-12 away to Cambridge, was mightily impressive. This was only the fourth time the Pirates have beaten the Pythons, with the two teams clashing a total of 17 times since 1991. Rookie running-back Lewis Reekie enjoyed took advantage of gaps in the oppositions defence to hit on his debut thanks to the offensive line, powering through tacklers at the second level to rush for 141 yards off of 20 touches, scoring two touchdowns in the process. Brad Walsh came in at tailback to drain the clock, and he rushed for 77 yards off of nine attempts; 8.5 average yards per carry. On the other side of the football, the defence forced two turnovers, and their success at containing the Pythons’ tricky offence led to Cambridge shifting to a more conventional attack in their next game.

Throughout the season, rookies have started in vital areas. The defensive line has competed well with more experienced offensive lines, showing great discipline and strength, despite it featuring a large number of rookies. There is excellent depth on the line equating to the ability to rotate bodies in and out. This is vital for maintaining an effective run-stuffing ability and a fresh pass-rush.

The Pirates second win, a scrappier affair at home to the Kent Falcons, demonstrated yet more of the team’s qualities. The Pirates overcame struggles on offence and defence, and the resilience displayed in the victory demonstrated the mental toughness that the team possesses.

Even in their first loss, 10-6 to the Brighton Tsunami, the Pirates’ performance showcased positives. The defence shutout the Tsunami’s offence, playing tough, disciplined football to stop Brighton’s physical running game.

The Pirates’ offence also came very close to a comeback, with quarterback Francis Hughes recovering brilliantly from an earlier pick six to throw an on-the-run touchdown to wingback Henry Schön. The pass was a fantastic play-call, with the Pirates having previously run a misdirection sweep from their two wingback, one tailback formation.

For the touchdown, Schön, lined up at left wingback, ran across the middle of the field as Hughes faked a handoff first to tailback Bradley Walsh and then a sweep to right

UEA Pirates in action during this academic year Photos: UEA Pirates wingback Ross Aveyard. With the defence stepping up anticipating a run, Hughes ran the bootleg to perfection rolling out towards his right and skilfully throwing for the wideopen Schön to run into the end zone.

The Pirates’ second defeat of the season, where they fell 36-6 to the Sussex Saxons, was a tough beating for the team to take. Yet it was not through lack of effort. The Saxons were simply bigger than the Pirates, but UEA will hope that through more practice and work they can turn this result around. In fairness to the Pirates, the game was closer than the score line appears. However, uncharacteristically big plays were given up by the often-stingy defence and the offence struggled to move the ball. One bright spot from the game was rookie wide-receiver Laurie Fain, who whilst receiving his first snaps adjusted brilliantly to a tipped pass, registering his first ever catch and potentially preventing an interception.

In spite of finishing with a loss, after finetuning scheme on offence and on defence, and putting in hard work in the gym and on the practice field, the Pirates look set to revert to their earlier winning ways. Furthermore, rookies will feel more settled in their role within the team, and more will hope to shine on gameday.