Concrete 354

9 October 2018 Issue 354 The official student newspaper of the University of East Anglia | concrete-online.co.uk

News:

Transphobic stickers appear on campus Matt Nixon Deputy Editor

Transphobic messages have appeared on stickers around campus and in the city centre over the last week. It is currently unclear who is responsible for distributing the stickers, but UEA Security and Norfolk Police are investigating while also responding to reports made by taking down the stickers.

The stickers contain extremely offensive messages which question and challenge the gender identity of transgender and non-binary people, and are a hate crime. The Students’

Union and UEA Security are asking those who find the stickers to report them and not to take them down on their own.

This is because in other cities where similar stickers have appeared, people have found razor blades and other violent objects behind the stickers, placed with intent to harm whoever removes it. It is not known whether this is occuring in Norwich.

Continued on

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Global: Brexit Box

With another couple of weeks since Concrete gave you your last update on Britain’s exit from the European Union (Brexit), scheduled for 29 March 2019, it’s time to give you a summary of all the latest news.

pg8

Features:

Milo Filtness on breast cancer and her mum

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It’s very hard to start a conversation about cancer, because as far as medical conditions go, it has a huge amount of emotional weight.

22nd September 2018

2

Editorial Not all doom and gloom Matt Nixon Deputy Editor

If you're reading this, it worked Sophie Bunce Editor-in-Chief

It's no exaggeration when I say that this issue was like trying to achieve space travel with only a Physics GCSE. I am, if nothing else, a resilient person, but producing two publications on only two working Macs will push anyone to a hairpulling level of stress.

Quite honestly, if not for our BBC Best Student Publication nomination I wouldn't have made it through this issue. But here I am, here's our paper, and if you look on the BBC website, there's our nomination.

We are heading to the awards in London during October and we'll keep you updated on on our progress. We're pretty excited for the free dinner with fellow student journalists.

We have the regional SPA awards coming up soon too - so any writers who reckon they're in with a chacnce of winning, check out our members page for details.

Speaking of our successes, (more humble brags ahead), we now have our very own Livewire show - multimedia baby - so Concrete can reach you by audio as well as the written word. I know you're all crying out for more of us, so tune in Tuesday 5pm to hear ‘A Week In

Concrete’.

Our first show is this week, and so give us a break if we don't ace the tech, I'm not, yet, Greg James.

"It's no exaggeration when I say that this issue was like trying to achieve space travel with only a Physics GCSE" Check out HeyUEA on page 14 for more details of The Media Collective’s goings on and to see if your society social media has featured in our roundup.

I picked our piece from the archive which reports on students frustration at the limited 21/22 bus route. I found the front page while waiting an HOUR for the number 25. Some things never change.

There are fewer dark fruits cans littering campus which can only mean one thing, freshers’ week is over - finally.

I'm glad to have all our new first year members, but I am even happier to say the mad members society scramble is over for now. I can put away my smile until Media Ball in December.

In the absence of cans,

transphobic stickers have appeared on campus. You can learn more about the incident on our front page with Matthew Nixon's investigation into the university’s reaction.

I speak for all of Concrete when I say, that kind of intolerance is not welcome in our community and our offices will always be a safe space.

I’m sad that it happened on our campus, though I find it even worse that I’ve seen also it happening in other universities too.

We will always report on and call out those who are ignorant enough to attack people, simply for being who they are. So if you are reading this, against all odds, the issue is done. I hope you enjoy the 354th installment of Concrete.

As always, follow us on everything @Concrete_UEA, where we share the latest news - and online only articles. We have a couple of long reads going up on concreteonline soon so keep an eye out for those.

As Sophie’s editorial says, this has been a difficult issue for us to put together. With only two computers working, and two editors - Gus and myself - away in London for some of the last week, I have to say a massive well done to everyone on the team for stepping up this week. We’ve managed to make another really good issue.

Our front page story for this issue is, however, extremely disappointing news for UEA. It’s sad that in 2018, on our campus, in a town as progressive as Norwich, there is still this sort of bigotry and hatred targeting our Trans friends, housemates, and lecturers.

It has been good to see how the LGBT+ community has stood behind our Trans and non-binary siblings, and on behalf of Concrete I’d like to really thank everyone who spoke with me for the front page story to help challenge the transphobia on campus. Thank you. It’s not been all doom and gloom this week, though. In our News section, we’ve reported on a lot of hard work and successes from UEA students and staff; the new PPL podcast (p.4), climate change app (p.4), and UEA partnership with the Norfolk Museums Service (p.6) are all great examples of the creativity and buzz always surrounding the first few weeks of the academic year.I hope this is a sentiment shared by our readers, finally starting to settle into a routine after the last hectic fortnight.

If you’re looking for more things to fill your time, check out Tony Allen’s interview with Oli Gray, SU Activities and Opportunities Officer (p.22), for all the latest going-ons within UEA Sport.

If that’s not your thing - or there’s already too much on your plate - then just flicking through is great for some distraction. Megan Furr’s article on Dark Tourism (p.20), is a great escape and is also great if you’ve already finished David Farrier’s latest Netflix series!

Have a great October!

The University of East Anglia’s Official Student newspaper since 1992 Saturday 22nd September 2018 Issue 353 Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593466 www.concrete-online.co.uk

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

concrete-online.co.uk Concrete_UEA concreteuea concrete_UEA Front page: Tony Allen

Chief Copy-Editors Holly Purdam Izzy Voice concrete.copy@uea.ac.uk Social Media Beth Bennett

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

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

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

News

3

9th October 2018

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

Transphobic stickers appear on Campus Police and UEA security unsure who is responsible for hateful stickers also in city centre Matthew Nixon Deputy Editor

Continued from front page In an announcement made on Monday 1 October, UEASU officers Liam Deary (LGBT+ Open Place), Jim Read (LGBT+ Trans & Non-Binary), and Amy Atkinson (Women+) denounced the messages as “contrary to our beliefs as a Students’ Union”.

“UEASU is an organisation that wants everyone to feel welcome, respected and a part of our community – we will not stand by as members of our community are targeted in such an aggressive way,” they said.

"UEASU is an organisation that wants everyone to feel welcome" They added: “Over the past three years our Never OK work has promoted our zero tolerance

approach to any kind of transphobic language or behaviours; we are very clear about this - we’d encourage any students that witness or experience transphobia to report it via the Never OK reporting tool.”

LGBT+ Open Place Officer, Liam Deary, told Concrete how the stickers spread a message of nonacceptance and othering.

He said “everyone should feel safe and welcome on our campus

and in our community.

The actions of those placing stickers around Norwich and campus aim to do the opposite of that.”

Ellie Meikle, a non-binary third year E n g l i s h Literature student, also told Concrete how they find “the m e d i u m being used here really frustrating because they've used a platform that's difficult to engage with.”

They said: “You can't get into a debate with a sticker, and you have no idea how many people are distributing them or agreeing with their views. It's mean, which confirms the message on the stickers.

If a person or group on campus doesn't believe me when I say what I am, that's their prerogative.”

“But sharing these stickers, implying by the use of them a kind of campus-wide transphobia, is

deplorable because the medium they have chosen resists debate and encourages transphobia at once.”

"We encourage all members of the UEA community to report any incidents" A spokesperson for the University expressed that UEA fully supports and welcomes the stance taken by the Students’ Union in response to the messages. They said UEA “will continue to work closely with students and the Students’ Union to ensure that students and staff are not subject to any form of discrimination or harassment.”

“We encourage all members of the UEA community to report any incidents that they experience or witness so that appropriate action can be taken.

In addition, our staff in Student Services are ready to provide support and advice to anyone who has been affected by these posters,”

they added.

In response to the transphobic messages, a series of positive stickers (pictured) have appeared around Norwich to support the trans and non-binary community.

Commenting on this, Ellie Meikle said “I might recommend that the people sharing stickers supporting trans people read something along the lines of 'support our trans siblings' instead, but that's sort of a side note.”

They added: “It's comforting that there are people on campus who aren't TERFs or transphobic, but I don't know if there's anything else the uni can do to make this easier for trans people on campus.”

“I think we, as trans or [nonbinary] people, all know that there are tons of people who don't accept us. That's kind of a given. But it's frustrating to be reminded on campus, which is, you know, a place where I do my learning.”

Students who identify any transphobic messages on campus are encouraged to use the ‘Never OK’ reporting tool on Portal, or to take a photo of the sticker, and send it with the location to Security@ uea.ac.uk. Any students who feel affected by the issues raised are encouraged to contact the Student Support Service to arrange an appointment.

Universities Minister calls for legal action over Essay Mills Jamie Hose News Reporter

Universities Minister, Sam Gyimah, has called for legislative measures to be taken over the use of ‘essay mills’ following the submission of a letter addressed to Education Secretary, Damian Hinds.

The letter, co-signed by 46 university chiefs, also called for banning the advertisement of such services in spaces such as campuses.

Leading websites offering services to UK-based students such as EduBirdie, BoomEssays and OxEssays offer various “plagiarism free” services based on essay length and the time in which it is due.

Prices of a first year 2000 word essay to be completed within two weeks start at £91, doubling to £182 if the work is due in 12 hours.

A similar problem has been noted elsewhere too, with Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and 17 US states either introducing, or having already introduced, bans on such websites.

Whether or not the UK will follow suit is currently up for discussion, although Gyimah does not rule out the possibility of outlawing these services.

Nicola Dandrige, Chief Executive of the Office for Students, pointed out the “deeply unethical” nature of these websites, which promote academic dishonesty.

"The continued use of these websites will affect the reliability of British degree standards" The question is whether the responsibility for this issue lies with the government, or the universities.

In October 2017, a recommendation was issued to universities suggesting that limiting assessment by essays and getting to know students’ individual writing styles may help in detecting plagiarised work.

A study in April of this year in Australia suggested that two of the main reasons for purchasing work

from ‘essay mills’ were English being a second language and dissatisfaction with the learning environment.

If students find themselves alienated in their studies, they are less likely to work hard and are therefore more likely to cheat.

These findings, along with the government recommendations, suggest universities must take responsibility to limit motives and opportunities to cheat.

G o v e r n m e n t intervention, however, is not out of the question.

In March, UK Essays had one of its ads banned by the Advertising Standards Agency due to misleading content, leading young people to believe it was publicly endorsed by the press.

Banning

these websites may not be necessary, though, as a recent student investigation for The Tab revealed that an essay that was promised to get a 2:1 only merited a Third under the scrutiny of a lecturer.

In his statement on the matter, Gymiah warned that the continued use of these websites by students will affect the reliability of British degree standards. It remains to be seen what action, if any, the government will take.

To see how Gyimah's suggestion has been responded to by UEA, the Students' Union, and more, go to page thirteen to read an analysis by Concrete's Senior Features Writer Roo Pitt.

Photos (L-R): Policy Exchange, Flickr. Pixabay. Wikimedia Commons.

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9th October 2018

News

Your SU: What's changed and what's to come?

Shannon McDonagh News Editor

With elections closing last week, Undergraduate Officer Jenna Chapman took to the UEA SU blog to outline her aims for this academic year, following her commitment to providing quaality, accessible and enjoyable education for students.

Key Priorities: >Increased recording of lectures

“In five years, just 184 of a possible 1000 academic

>Improved awareness of 'hidden costs'

advisers had completed their

>Better staff and

training”

academic adviser

She has stated that increasing the volume of recorded lectures, improving awareness of the hidden costs of studying, and looking to staff and academic adviser training, are to be her three key priorities.

Chapman, along with the four other full-time SU Officers, were elected in March with their roles commencing in July.

Chapman beat her competitor, Finn Northrop, by 171 votes, as reported by Concrete.

Speaking on recorded lectures, Chapman cites the benefits as being conducive to allowing “extra

training

Photo: Matt Nixon flexibility” in learning, as well as acting as a “useful revision tool”.

She added that making this a more widespread feature of

studying at UEA will ensure that students are not pressured to note down the entirety of their lectures.

In advocating for transparency

when it comes to course costs, Chapman lists “DBS checks, placement costs, compulsory field trips and books” as hidden compulsory elements to many courses that students do not always budget for.

A Which? survey conducted earlier this year found that students spent an average of £119 on textbooks, £158 on field trips, and £203 travelling to and from work placements annually.

Finally, the issue of adviser training has been an ongoing concern for many students, more so after figures revealed by the SU in 2017 found that in five years, just 184 of a possible 1,000 academic advisers had completed their training.

The work of last year’s Undergraduate Officer, Mary Leishman, changed this, making training a compulsory feature of the position.

Chapman wants to continue in this vein by modifying the training procedures, making them more applicable to the needs of students at UEA. Chapman has since published another blog post, reflecting on the ways in which student feedback has enabled progress to be made in key areas over the past few years.

Specifically, Chapman has stated that she wil be pushing for students to be allowed access exam scripts, additional plug sockets in the library, and also a more mobile friendly Blackboard app. More information can be found on the SU website.

News in brief UEA in top 100 universities across the world

UEA has been ranked within the top 100 universities in the world and within the top 50 for research citations following the release of the Times Higher Education rankings for 2019.

The rankings include more than 1,250 institutions from 86 countries, the biggest league table they have ever accumulated to date. They involve criteria such as teaching and research quality, along with international influence and industry income. These league tables are often used by prospective students to provide useful information that will help them choose the right university, as well as being a testament to the research quality of global institutions.

The number 190 world ranking is two places down from last year, with the highest ever ranking coming from 2017 where the university ranked at number 149.

Alongside this, the university has also been ranked within the top 15 in the UK in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019 for the third year in a row.

Vice Chancellor Professor David Richardson said: “It’s especially pleasing to see UEA remain in the Top 200 of the world’s higher education institutions and to be ranked 49th in the world for citations.”

Emma-Louise Beattie

City Landlords have to sign up to new licensing scheme Roo Pitt

the government sees this as a way of rebalancing the relationship between tenants and landlords.

News Reporter

An announcement by the Government regarding changes to licenses for Houses of MultiOccupancy (HMOs), which came into effect on 1 October 2018, now means that Norwich Council must ensure landlords are providing large enough bedrooms for their occupants.

Norwich City Council hope local implementation of these changes will crack down on substandard homes within the city, currently the council only require HMOs to be licenced under the national mandatory scheme and do not operate selective or additional licensing.

Previously any private dwelling that consisted of five bedrooms and three or more stories, would need a license and conform to set standards prior to being let to occupants from two or more different households.

Under the recent changes, any property that houses five or more occupants, regardless of number of floors, will be subject to licencing.

The changes also bring new standards for properties and minimum sizes of rooms which the Government hopes will reduce

“For students this means greater protection against dilapidated homes which have been converted”

Photo: Matt Nixon overcrowding and reduce problems with waste disposal from HMOs. Mandating more landlords to apply for HMO licences and therefore being forced to subject their properties to checks by

the council will inevitably raise standards of living for some, however current landlords of qualifying properties will not need to reapply for a licence under the new standards until their current

one expires.

For students this means greater protection against dilapidated homes which have been converted to house more people than is suitable for the properties original design,

If a landlord is found to be in breach of any of the new standards, they can be given up to 18 months to rectify any breaches, only however where a licence holder has not knowingly permitted the breach.

It’s estimated that around 160,000 properties in the UK will be affected by the change.

This will mean councils can take further action to crack down on landlords who would have previously evaded checks through loopholes in past policies.

9th October 2018

5

News

PPL launches Sheffield SU launches drug politics podcast harm-reduction campaign Charlotte Manning News Reporter

The School of Politics, Philosophy and Languages (PPL) have begun the academic year with launching a podcast helping to improve interactivity in students’ learning and encourage debate on topical issues in the fields of society, media and culture.

The podcast will be hosted by Clare Precey, lecturer and BBC broadcast journalist, and Politics lecturer, Alan Finlayson.

‘Politics at the Edge’ will feature contributions from various PPL lecturers, giving insight on their specialist areas, as well as guest contributors, who so far include former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, broadcaster Iain Dale of LBC radio, and the former Editor of The Guardian, Alan Rusbridger.

The first podcast, titled ‘Alternative Facts?’ was released on 24 September, exploring the way in which political communication has changed in an increasingly digitised age.

A further two have been released since, exploring topics such as the implications of a post-Brexit Britain and the decline of trust levels within

news media audiences.

These episodes have featured other PPL academics such as Professor John Street and Dr Sally Broughton-Micova.

Explaining his reasons for creating the podcast, Finlayson said “With so much going on in politics right now, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day blow-by-blow of who said what to whom.

"We think it’s important to take a step back and think about the wider context, the cultural, historical and technological background to what is happening in society and politics.”

Clare Precey emphasised the importance of student involvement within the project, explaining that some of UEA’s Journalism students “have been a part of the production team, recording interviews with contributors”.

She added that projects such as this are made with the intention of viewing important political issues from outside the ‘Westminster Bubble’.

The podcast has been made available on iTunes, which can be found by searching for “Politics at the Edge”, as well as on ‘Eastminster’, the UEA Politics blog site at http://www.ueapolitics.org

Matthew Nixon Deputy Editor

The University of Sheffield’s Students’ Union have defended publishing advice to students on how to take drugs safely after receiving criticism in the national press that they were ‘normalising’ substance use.

The Students’ Union has said they have a zero tolerance policy towards drugs, but that “keeping students safe is not as simple as that.”

“Some students across the UK will and do try drugs during their time at university,” said Katharine Swindless, Welfare Officer of Sheffield’s SU. “It’s with this in mind that we took the decision to direct students to external guidance [] to make sure that, while we can’t condone drug use, if

a student does choose to take drugs they are as informed as possible, and take steps to take all reasonable precautions.”

Sheffield SU worked with the substance use harm reduction charity The Loop to produce their advice. The Loop is a non-profit organisation which, as part of their work, provides drug safety testing, welfare and harm reduction services at nightclubs and festivals.

Working together Sheffield SU and The Loop produced a range of posters, blog posts, videos and more educating students on what drug combinations are known to be unsafe, reasonable dosages, and what to do if something goes wrong or a person who uses drugs needs support.

Photo: Lee Haywood, Flickr

“Too many young people experiment with drugs without any knowledge of what they do, how they work and what the risks are. We need to provide students information so that they can make informed decisions – and stay safe,” said Katharine Swindless.

Part of the advice encouraged students who might use substances that involve needles to “Never inject alone”, so they could be given assistance if needed.

However, many national papers were quick to sensationalise the advice and suggested it actually encouraged students who might not have tried drugs to experiment with them.

But Sheffield SU said their role is about “more than just telling students not to take drugs.”

“It’s also about education and harm reduction, something that is needed right now. It’s important to recognise the clear difference – health protection is not promoting use.”

We asked UEASU whether they supported the advice offered by Sheffield, but they did not respond by press time.

UEA's bi-annual literary festival returns UEA scientist develops Lauren Sant

new climate change app

News Reporter

This autumn will bring the return of the Arthur Miller Institute Literary Festival which celebrates literature, media and culture, with special attendances from esteemed playwrights, novelists and biographers.

This year there will be features biographer and memoirist Claire Tomalin, novelist Jonathan Coe who has written several novels that have been adapted for film - and television playwright and esteemed novelist, Dame Margaret Drabble.

In addition to this, UEA will be welcoming back former Chancellor, novelist, and memoirist, Rose Tremain.

The festival will run from 3 October to 21 November, with guest speakers every Wednesday evening at 7pm in Lecture Theatre 1.

Festival Director, Professor Chris Bigsby, will be hosting the guest sessions and discussing their work, writing and memoirs.

Each appearance will be followed by a book signing at the Waterstones on campus.

Professor Bigsby told Concrete that the festival “has previously featured nine Nobel Prize winners, two of them ex-UEA, drawing on writers of all kinds from a range of countries.

"Where once we would concentrate on novelists, playwrights and poets, now we

Annabel Gibson News Reporter

Photo: UEA feature writing of all kinds.”

This diversity is evident with guest speakers such as MI5’s official historian and KGB historian, Christopher Andrews, whose writing of Soviet Russia is particularly interesting in light of the recent events in Salisbury.

Andrews will be opening the festival on 3 October.

Also joining the festival is the BBC’s former Foreign Correspondent, Sir Max Hastings, who will be discussing his study of the Vietnam War; and Henry Marsh, a leading brain surgeon who made neurosurgical advancements in Ukraine and has sold millions of books depicting his memoirs.

The festival has attracted 6,000 people each year over the last 25 years, and the range of fascinating writers attending the festival is likely to have a wide appeal with “something for everyone”,

ensuring that this year will also be a resounding success.

“The festival has previously featured nine Nobel Prize winners, two of them ex-UEA” Proceeds from the literary festivals go towards supporting student scholarships, bursaries and activities at the University.

Tickets for the festival can be purchased at: https://www.uea. ac.uk/litfest/home

Craig Wallace, a senior research associate at UEA, has released EarthSystemData, one of the world’s first apps to enable users to explore current and future climate change information.

“I want members of the public to have access to the same climate information that governments and businesses are using to plan for the future,” said Wallace.

“I wanted to build an app that was similar in character to a weather app but displayed information on climate timescales.”

EarthSystemData is a combined web and app-based service that provides an up-to-date overview of current climate conditions and climate projections on a local and global basis.

“The future projections contained in the app I hope have obvious value to the users, for any town or city you can see the present-day climate conditions, and compare what's happening now with decadal projections out to 2100,” said Wallace.

“At the peak of the heatwave, London's average temperatures were resembling projections for the 2070s. Users can access the app

during ongoing climate anomalies and use these to get a sense for possible futures.”

Future climate projections are made from the current latest generation of international global climate circulation models, which are computational models of the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and other global systems.

These systems assist in simulating the effects of both natural and man-made impacts upon the Earth’s climate in both the present and the future.

Currently, the app predicts an approximate doubling of greenhouse concentrations by 2100.

Furthermore, the Met Office declared that, for the UK, this summer was the joint hottest on record alongside 2006, 2003 and 1976.

“In my opinion, we are at the stage where we are seriously jeopardising reversibility of climate change,” said Wallace.

“How these factors can be reversed, if at all, and on what time scale leads to some pretty bleak thoughts.

"We really are standing on the cliff edge.”

Background Image: superawesomevectors, Deviantart

6

9th October 2018

News

Accusations of bullying against UK academics Jake Morris

Advisor in Student

News Reporter

An investigation by The Guardian has found that 300 academics at UK universities have been accused of bullying by students or colleagues within the last five years.

“Postgraduate students reported leaving their posts with posttraumatic stress disorder” Those accused included senior academics and research directors for laboratories. Staff members and postgraduate students interviewed

by The Guardian have described their experiences of a culture of threatening behaviour.

One PhD student accused their Academic Superviser of committing ‘career sabotage and intellectual property theft,’ and another described how they were forced to falsify data to avoid the ‘wrath’ of the Laboratory Director.

Other postgraduate students reported leaving their posts with

Photo: Pixabay post-traumatic stress disorder.

Date obtained by The Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 found that at 105 universities, 216 staff have been disciplined or dismissed for bullying, and at 55 of these universities, a total of 294 complaints have been made against academics.

The request also found that 14

universities used non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to settle bullying cases with financial payouts to the victims.

A Freedom of Information request submitted to the University of East Anglia (UEA) on 24 April 2018 requested information for the total number of NDAs signed by the university.

UEA refused to provide this information under S12 of the Act. It is worth noting that NDAs are likely to cover a range of topics, but they may be regarding bullying accusations.

If you believe that you are the victim of bullying or harassment by a student or staff member at UEA, then please contact a Harassment

Support Services.

Other services such as the Student Union’s Advice Centre and Nightline are able to offer confidential advice and support.

If you would be willing to share your experiences, then Concrete would love to hear from you.

Please get in touch by email at News.Editor@uea.ac.uk

UUK release annual report UEA partners with Norfolk Museums Service Roo Pitt

News Reporter

Universities UK (UUK) have published their latest report on patterns and trends in Higher Education (HE) for 2018. The report covers the academic year for 201617, a total of 2,316,475 students were studying at HE establishments within the UK.

"There has been significant change in the number of staff and students" At little over one million, 44 per cent of those in education, were new entrants onto programs at these establishments, both post and undergraduate, although this shows a significant drop of around 60,000 students, there were record numbers of students studying fulltime courses.

Staffing HE establishments across the country has increased 12.7 per cent since 2007-08 with a 58.7 per cent increase in academic staff.

In the academic years between 2009-10 and 2016-17, the number of professorial posts occupied by women and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff has increased by

59.2 per cent, with nearly 10 per cent of all these posts consisting of BME staff and 25 per cent female.

The increase in

59.2%

women and BME professorial staff between 2009/10 and 2016/17

The percentage of white males working within the

67.5%

HE sector The number of

44%

those in education who are new entrants onto programs

That being said, white males still dominate this part of the sector at a total of 67.5 per cent. UUK said: “Over the last 10 years, there has been significant change in the number of staff and students at universities, as well as their finances.

"This includes shifts in the range of courses offered and characteristics of student and staff.”

Moreover, UUK insists that: “Despite challenges over the next few years, the UK Higher Education sector will endeavor to maintain its globally-competitive teaching and research quality, collaborate nationally and internationally, and attract students and staff from across the globe.”

Hannah Brown News Reporter

An exciting new partnership between UEA and the Norwich Museums Service (NMS) was announced on Friday 21 September, formalising the already existing relationship between both organisations.

The announcement came at an event for 200 international students at the Keep in Norwich Castle.

“We felt it was a fitting occasion to announce this partnership as welcoming visitors from overseas is also part of Norfolk’s history,” said Professor Sarah Barrow, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Arts and Humanities at UEA. “It offered our new students the opportunity to sample some of our cultural heritage for themselves.”

UEA and NMS have already had many joint projects, such as “The Paston Treasure: Riches and Rarities of the Known World”, an exhibition which was displayed at Norwich Castle over the summer.

Furthermore, the “Paston Footprint” is a continuous collaborative project, with plans to continue into 2020.

The project uses materials such as letters and physical artefacts to retell the stories of one of Norfolk’s most prominent families via drama, 3D-modelling, and digitisation. The project will also contain seminars and workshops.

“Both UEA and the range of

venues that form part of the Museums Service, such as Norwich Castle, are part of the fabric of the Norfolk community,” said Prof Barrow.

“We’re excited about the opportunities

bring alive and which, in turn, will support our regional economy.”

F u t u r e projects, subject to the Heritage Lottery Fund’s award of £8.7 million, would see the restoration of the

Photo: Adrian S Pye, Geograph that lie ahead as a result of our partnership, which also includes links to the British Museum.

"Our future projects will, we hope, encourage new and wider audiences to enjoy the rich and diverse cultural heritage that our academics, students and Norfolk Museums Service’s experts will

original Norman Keep of Norwich Castle.

Nowadays, the Keep contains a basic Norman layout, but the redevelopment could completely transform a visitor’s experience to the famous Castle.

The partnership offers the potentiality for many exciting

7

celebrating black history month

educate, inspire, change see uea.su/bhm for further info

8

Global

9th October 2018

Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh accused of sexual assault Rachel Crockart Global Writer

Proceedings have been delayed of the Republican nomination to the United States Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, due to the accusations of sexual assault by several women.

Thursday 27 September saw the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of Mr Kavanaugh where he denied all allegations and clashed with Democrats.

In his emotional testimony, the American attorney pleaded innocence and defended his drunkard behaviour by stating that he ‘liked beer’ and he ‘still likes beer’. President Trump, despite being a self-proclaimed teetotaller, defended Mr Kavanaugh’s drinking habits.

The Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham, also argued that the sexual assault allegations hold partisan political motives. Mr Trump later tweeted that the Democrats’ search and destroy strategy is disgraceful

and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct and resist’ his Supreme Court nomination.

“The appointment of Mr Kavanaugh could tilt the balance of the Supreme Court in favour of the Republicans” A testimony by Doctor Christine Blasey Ford, claiming to have been assaulted by Mr Kavanaugh 36 years ago, saw her declaring that the event had ‘drastically’ affected her life. The nomination of Mr Kavanaugh is said to be a concern for American women as it has sparked fear amongst progressives that the 1973 Roe v Wade decision

Brexit Box

to make abortion legal could be overturned by a conservative majority in the Supreme Court.

Therefore, this case has erupted discussion around women’s rights, especially when considering who to believe; Ms Ford or Mr Kavanaugh, with the social media hashtags #BelieveWomen v #BackBrett emerging over this case. Activists who have been rallying at Capitol Hill since the hearings want a nominee who understands the values of women. Some are angry at how quickly Dr Ford’s allegations have been dismissed.

The appointment of Mr Kavanaugh could tilt the balance of the Supreme Court in favour of the Republicans for decades as confirmed members hold their seat for life, and the nine life members of the Judiciary have the final say on bills that have passed through Congress.

The Senate Committee voted 1110 to proceed with the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh on the condition of an FBI investigation.

North and South Korea leaders meet in Pyongyang William Warnes

Jake Morris

Global Writer

Senior Global Writer

With another couple of weeks since Concrete gave you your last update on Britain’s exit from the European Union (Brexit), scheduled for 29 March 2019, it’s time to give you a summary of all the latest news.

The EU’s summit in Salzburg, Austria, has appeared to drive a wedge between the UK and the EU. Despite indications before the summit of a softening of the EU’s stance towards UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposals for the future EU-UK relationship, dubbed her Chequers plan, EU leaders released a joint statement at the conference rejecting her proposal, accusing it of undermining the single market.

The tension at Salzburg began to mount as European Council President, Donald Tusk, posted a photo of Mrs May “cherry-picking” from a selection of cakes. Mrs May reacted strongly, accusing negotiations of reaching an “impasse” and suggesting that the EU should treat the UK with more “respect”.

In what could be seen as a retaliatory move, the Cabinet released a statement declaring that EU migrants will not have increased rights of access post Brexit. Mr Tusk has since said that a compromise could be possible but with “reworking” of the UK’s stance.

In Liverpool, Brexit was top of the agenda at the Labour Party conference. Labour Leader, Jeremy

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Corbyn, has said that Labour will back the government on a Brexit deal if it meets six key tests, but will not support Mrs May’s Chequers proposals. After a poll of Labour Party members, Mr Corbyn has not ruled out the possibility of supporting a second referendum on Brexit, which could include an option to remain in the EU. Postconference, he met with EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, to present Labour’s view for Brexit which led to, in Mr Corbyn’s words, an “interesting, useful discussion”.

Strong calls from politicians and businesses alike have been published about the risk of exiting the EU with no-deal, a so-called hard Brexit. Toyota announced that production at its plant would be temporarily halted in a no-deal scenario. Ex-Prime Minister, John Major, is among those calling for a second referendum to avoid a hard Brexit.

Also included in the headlines was the news that prominent Leave supporter ex-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has presented his own vision for Brexit, advocating a UK-EU free trade deal modelled on the EU-Canada deal.

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days before Britain is scheduled to exit the European Union

Photo: Vecteezy

North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, met with South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, in a landmark summit, the third of this year, to discuss an “era of no war” in the peninsula.

Speaking in Pyongyang, North Korea, both leaders announced in a joint press conference that North Korea would close a key missile test facility in the presence of “international experts” and potentially destroy its primary nuclear complex if the United States agrees to corresponding measures, promising “lasting peace” in the

region.

US President Donald Trump, declared “KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!”

This came after the July summit in Singapore between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un which resulted in a declaration of new peaceful relations, the reaffirmation of the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and the recovery of Korean War soldiers’ remains.

Korea was divided into North and South in 1948 after the Japanese Empire’s 35-year grip of the country ended in the wake of World War

Two. The United States and the Soviet Union set about occupying the South and North respectively which saw tensions rise on the “The 38th Parallel”. It led to war breaking out between both sides on 25 June 1950 that ran until 27 July 1953.

The war ended as a stalemate, but the Korean conflict has continued until the present day and has been an ongoing issue for the United Nations and world leaders.

However, with the recent news emerging from Pyongyang, it appears the conflict and consistent threat of nuclear war may become a thing of the past. Only time will tell if both sides stick to their sides of the agreement.

Hundreds die after Tanzanian ferry capsizes Scott Arthur Global Writer

Tanzania has been struck by another maritime disaster on Lake Victoria as at least 127 people drowned when a ferry capsized.

It is believed that the ferry only had a capacity for 101 people and was massively overloaded; with at least 40 people pulled alive from the water, and with people still missing, it is entirely possible that the ferry was carrying over twice the intended capacity. Some reports have suggested that the ferry was carrying approximately 400 passengers, 100 bags of maize and a lorry full of iron bars, alongside crew and personal luggage.

A recent study has found that

an estimated 5,000 people down annually in the lake, with old vessels, unqualified crew, poor technical staff, absence of life jackets, outdated navigational charts and absence of navigational aids all being blamed for accidents in the past. And yet, ferry remains the preferred method of getting from one side of the lake to another, with speed and cost persuading people to take the risk.

This is not the first time that such a large loss of life has occurred on the lake: in 1996, the passenger and cargo ferry MV Bukoba sank, resulting in the deaths of 800 people, with Tanzania and East Africa having a history of maritime disasters, both on sea and on Lake Victoria, the world’s second largest lake.

The introduction of the Lake

Victoria Transport Act of 2007, which was designed to prevent overloading and overcrowding of vessels, seemingly has had limited effect.

Tanzanian President, John Magufuli, has urged calm and has declared four days of national mourning in response to the capsizing, and has reportedly ordered the arrest of the ferry management, with a criminal case now open.

The situation can perhaps best be summed up by Sebastian John, a teacher living near the lake. He says “Since my birth, people have gone to their deaths on this lake, but what are we to do? We did not choose to be born here, we have nowhere to go”; a haunting reminder of life in this poor East African nation.

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9th October 2018

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

World leaders convene in Manhattan to air grievances

In brief Coca-Cola exploring cannabis drinks Drinks giant Coca-Cola has been in talks with a Canadian producer of marijuana to infuse the ingredient in their beverages.

Cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive constituent of cannabis, can help ease inflammation, pain and cramping. It would be the first entry of a major manufacturer of non-alcoholic drinks to enter the market. It comes as Canada prepares to legalise cannabis for recreational use.

George Goldberg ‘Tired old meme’ is sexist 2018’s ‘meme of the year’ has been ruled sexist by the Swedish ad watchdog. ‘Distracted Boyfriend’, showing a man admiring a woman other than his girlfriend, had been used as a recruitment advert for internet provider, Bahnhof.

Although saying the ad ‘objectifies women’, the watchdog is unable to impose a sanction or ban, as it is self-regulating. The company said that their only fault was using a ‘tired old meme’.

Andrew Ferris

Mason Bosworth

Photo: Joyce N. Boghosian, Flickr

Global Writer

On 18 September, the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly opened in New York City. Described as one of the six principal organs of the UN, the General Assembly gives the opportunity for representatives from the 193-member countries to take to the podium, where most call out their rivals and tout their accomplishments.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May gave a speech which reaffirmed globalism in spite of serious doubts that many across the world have in response to the financial crisis of 2008, ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, and automation of jobs.

In what some viewed as a rebuke of US President Donald Trump, she warned against the pitfalls of extremism on both the left and right, decrying nationalism, authoritarianism and corruption, and advocating for the importance of a free and independent press.

Mrs May also mentioned Russia and the Salisbury chemical attacks in March, with the suggestion that there’s ‘a better way to meet the concerns of our people’.

She continued to champion globalisation, declaring, ‘only global cooperation based on a set of agreed rules can ensure competition

is fair and does not succumb to protectionism, with its certain path to lost jobs and international confrontation’.

This quote is particularly ironic considering Mrs May’s country’s impending separation from the European Union in six months, but could be interpreted as a jab at the so-called “hard Brexit” wing of her party.

Mr Trump used his time at the podium to talk about Iran. “The Iranian regime exports violence, terror, and turmoil”, he said, vowing the US would ensure that Iran would never achieve a nuclear ballistic missile, despite pulling the US out of the Iranian Nuclear Deal in May. However, he did thank Russia and Iran for slowing down their attack on the city of Idlib in Syria, the last

rebel stronghold.

The President also inspired laughter at the UNGA after boasting ‘my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country’.

When the laughter interrupted him, he conceded with a chuckle, ‘didn’t expect that reaction, but it’s okay!’

its never too late to join a club or society, and we have over 200 to choose from on the app: download from uea.su/app online: head to uea.su/join

Features

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October 9th 2018

Photos: Milo Filtness

Photo: Dan Sallis

It’s v e r y h a r d to start a conversation about cancer, because as far as medical conditions go, it has a huge amount of emotional weight. Firstly, because one in two people are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK, so chances are that whoever you talk to about it, they have been personally affected.

Secondly, people are scared of cancer. The media is rife with fear mongering articles telling us how most things in our lives will give us cancer, and all this makes it very taboo.

In 2007, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she had caught early (her aged only 38, me aged 9). She went on to have a mastectomy (her breast removed), and was extremely fortunate in the fact that she didn’t need radiotherapy or chemotherapy and as of 21 April 2008, has been in complete remission. Although she was all clear, she still had to have reconstructive surgery, and still has regular check ups.

Milo Filtness on breast cancer and her mum I often f e e l a great sense of guilt and upset that I was too young to help my mum through her recovery and I wasn’t there for her nearly as much as I would be had I been ten years older, and although I’m aware this is hugely irrational, I think it quite succinctly illustrates the emotional impact that cancer has on those affected - and that’s only my side, I wasn’t even the one that went through it. My mum is unshakably beautiful and unshakably hardworking, ferociously witty and ferociously kind - the down to earth and logical energy I need in my very emotional and arty life.

She is there to stroke my hair when I am sad, make me tea when I’ve had a stressful day, watch trashy films with for no reason apart from that we want to - and as I have gotten older, the dynamic has flipped from solely parent-child, and has become one of a much more mutual level of love and connection.

I would hate for other people to miss out on this. We still argue and

nag each other, yes, she still hates that I’m messy and I hate that she’s tidy, and she still tells me I wear too much eyeliner, but I would hate for someone else to miss out on this because their mum found her cancer a stage further on.

“I often feel a great sense of guilt” And I would hate for their mum to miss out on all the experiences that my mum has had, and the amazing clarity that she gained from what she went through.

This school of thought lead me to get involved with Coppafeel!, a charity that raises awareness of breast cancer in young people.

Their founder, Kris Hallenga, was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer when she was only 23 - stage four being the most advanced stage.

Despite trying to get it checked sooner, doctors had written her off as being “too young”, so her cancer got left undiagnosed for over eight months. When she finally did get her diagnosis, she was shocked at the lack of information accessible

to young people in regards to breast cancer awareness, as people didn’t know that breast cancer was something you could get whilst you were young - and even if they did, they didn’t know what to be looking for, or how to check themselves.

The fact that Kris (with the help of her sister Maren) set up a charity in the face of something so overwhelmingly life-changing and just straight up rubbish is potentially the most bad-ass thing I’ve ever heard, and to further extend that, Coppafeel!’s whole vibe is one of humour and fun. I love the work they do to de-stigmatise cancer and their humorous and inclusive approach to boob/pec checking in general, and because of this I did work experience with them when I was 17, and now, at 20, I am the President of the UEA Uni Boob Team Society - their on campus representatives.

The Uni Boob Team is one of the great loves of my life - we raise money and awareness for an amazing cause (whilst also wearing glitter and a giant boob costume) and along with this, the people it attracts are some of the funniest and sunniest people I’ve ever met.

We put on a huge range of events, one of my favourites being BoobBall which is a big dodgeball tournament played with balls that look like boobs. At every single one, someone will ask us how to

check their boobs, or what they should be looking for. The fact that that happens so frequently and we are available and smiling with all the information needed makes me go home after every event we do knowing that me standing in a boob costume for five hours was more than worthwhile.

So as a new year of boob shenanigans begins, I would love to invite any newcomers to join in with what we do. It’s volunteering so looks great on your CV, and along with this, is huge amounts of fun with a hilarious group of people you can get in contact with us via Facebook.

“The Uni Boob Team is one of the great loves of my life” If you read this and check your chest in the shower tonight, then I know that I have done my job as a Boob Leader. Any questions regarding breast cancer facts and how to check your boobs, have a gander on the Coppafeel! website, or contact the UEA Uni Boob Team (we have a Facebook page).

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October 9th 2018

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

Dyslexia: Universities: spelling it Anonymous Features Writer

While it is not breaking news that every person is different from the next, it seems that this obvious fact is too often overlooked by many educational institutions.

And by the time that most of us reach the pearly gates of university, we all know that each and every one of us has had to jump through the same educational hoops as the next to be here. This is a source of frustration for many students; round-hole-square-peg school boards are anxiety-inducing for all, let alone those of us who have dyslexia.

Indeed, no individual’s experience of dyslexia is a replica of another’s. I feel grateful that I was diagnosed early, as there are too many stories of dyslexia going undiagnosed until university usually because some people display a lot less commonly recognisable symptoms.

“A source of

frustration for many students; round-holesquare-peg school boards” Luckily I had vigilant parents, who actually thought to get me tested when they noticed I was shuffling on my bum instead of crawling as a toddler. But, while I do feel lucky on the one hand, on the other I feel that the outdated perceptions of dyslexia have pasted a label over my forehead that reads “less academically competent”.

There are so many ways that dyslexia shows itself: poor spatial awareness, being less organised, bum shuffling, and of course the more obvious symptoms of struggling to read and write as competently as our non-dyslexic peers. Everyone grows and learns in a different way, and this extends to those of us with dyslexia.

The simple fact that we all share a condition with the same name does not mean that we all share the same symptoms, problems, and needs when it comes to assistance in

in a league out of their own Eve Matthews Features Writer

Autumn leaves are falling, freshers are beginning new lives at university, and the 2019 university league tables have been released.

I can imagine that many applicants will be frantically worrying about these performances, just like I did. Is the university too good for me? Is it too low in the table? Does its position in the league table even matter?

Photo: Vecteezy school.

This is where we are going wrong, by not offering our dyslexic students enough practical solutions that actually allow them to be independent in their studies, and to realise their own potential in order to avoid negative perceptions of their academic ability.

Outdated fixes, like forcing students into handwriting lessons and sending them to bottom set for spelling mistakes are redundant, and about as useful as an umbrella in the desert for students like me.

I’m in my third year studying History at UEA, and I am sure that many of my authoritative figures throughout education would never have recommended me taking such a heavily essay-based university degree.

But what university offers students like me, that many primary, junior or secondary schools don’t, is the latest assistive technology to help us realise our passions without barriers.

When I received Dragon, a speech recognition software package at university, thanks to a nifty thing called the DSA (Disabled Student Allowance), the time it took me to write essays was cut in half.

Aside from speech recognition, it also turns speech from lectures into text, among other features, and these bits of technology are cleverly designed to make essay writing, lecture note-taking, and general daily tasks that involve reading and writing easier.

It’s 2018, and in this modern technological landscape, we are not unaware of the kind of impact that the latest tech can offer us.

It is why our lives are littered

with things like speech recognition which is being utilised in our phones, cars and even home assistants.

Knowing that I, and many other young students, had missed out on this at an earlier age was frustrating - not just as a dyslexic student, but as an aspiring teacher. What is disheartening is the feeling that our schools aren’t doing enough to create a level playing field for dyslexic students.

It’s time to stop thinking about dyslexia as a challenge that needs to be overcome, and begin to understand it as a learning difference, one that doesn’t only hinder, but gifts those with the condition the ability to see things from a completely different perspective to anyone else.

Dyslexia is a tool - one that enables great imagination, unrivalled analytical skill and a myriad of other benefits that our too often outdated perceptions are not letting us tap into.

I hope that I can spread this key message of individuality being at the heart of academic ability, especially as someone that aspires to one day teach the next generation of kids with that value in mind, whether they are dyslexic not.

And seeing as it is Dyslexia Awareness Week (1-7 October), perhaps this is where we start talking about the nuances of dyslexia, so that more people at the heart of our school systems can form a better understanding of the plethora of effects that dyslexia has on its sufferers, and push through with the kind of help that gives dyslexic students the independence to thrive.

“I was unsure if I should put reputation over my love of the course” Well, if you’re looking in terms of employability then perhaps not.

While Imperial College London makes the 9th position on the Times Higher Education league tables for this year, they did not make the top 20 in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings.

How could a university, marked as one of the best in the world, not even make it into the top rankings for employability? Is this a sign that name and reputation of institutions now mean more than the degrees themselves?

If we look at national league tables for the UK, we see this may indeed be true, as The Guardian placed Aberystwyth within the top five universities for teaching, but

only considered it as 45th overall.

Moreover, while Cambridge is one of the most prestigious universities in the country (and the world) and first in the league tables, it was surpassed by UEA for student satisfaction, with UEA rolling in at 8th while Cambridge lagged at 16th.

To muddy the murky waters even more, alongside multiple confusing and conflicting league tables, there’s also the prestigious title of being a Russell Group university which is held by 22 “research-intensive, world-class” universities across the country.

While they may be considered the best, many have begun to question if they live up to their prestigious label, as many of the Russell Group universities fail to appear in the top 15 let alone the top 30.

UEA, which is 14th in the league, has publicly rejected the supposed-superiority of the Russell Group label, stating that “we should be reconsidering how we judge universities based on this element of their reputation.”

Choosing which university to attend is a huge decision and the contradictory and arbitrary nature of the league tables makes a hard decision even harder.

My second-choice university was a Russell Group university, and for a long time, I was unsure if I should put reputation over my love of the course. However, UEA offers a course that works best for me and I could not be happier with it.

Yes, university ranking can be important, especially if looking at individual aspects like employability or student satisfaction, but they don’t tell us which courses are bestsuited to us as individuals. Sure, take them into consideration, but don’t let them rule your decisions.

Photos: Yutian Lei

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October 9th 2018

Features

Are alcohol-free spaces available?

movement keeps on growing.

However, despite the decrease in drinking culture amongst young people, it’s clear to see that university life, and fresher’s week, in particular, are dominated by alcoholfocused events. The fresher’s and returner’s programmes heavily centred on boozy nights out, which are understandably popular for the majority. It’s a time to celebrate our newfound independence and party before the work of the semester ahead demands your full attention.

“The SU has been working towards a more-inclusive, teetotal-friendly culture”

Photo: Vecteezy Jodie Bailey Features Writer

“Why don’t you drink?” is perhaps one of the most common questions

that I get asked, usually coupled with a quizzical look as the person that I’m talking to tries to size me up. I know that I am not alone in this experience of having to justify my (lack of) drinking habits. I am

just one of the growing number of young people today who classes themselves as teetotal. In fact, an ONS study from 2017 found that more than a quarter of 16-24-year olds are non-drinkers, and the

There is no doubt that fresher’s week ought to be fun and give us an opportunity to socialise, but I believe that this week ought to be more inclusive for those who abstain.

Arguably the SU has been working towards a more-inclusive, teetotal-friendly culture.

Their website even has a section to search for non-alcohol focused events, and their new alcohol impact initiatives are trying to reduce the negative impacts of alcohol on the lives of UEA students. Their survey found that 72 per cent of students who responded disliked socialising with others who get too drunk and ruin nights out, and about a third of students drink less than once a week. It’s not what you would expect to hear from your stereotypical student.

To try to be more inclusive and promote responsible and safe drinking habits, the SU also has a Red Card policy in all union venues.

Should you arrive drunk, behave disrespectfully or aggressively, then you are issued a red card. The card not only means that you’re excluded from the venue for the night, but it also means that this behaviour needs to be followed up and discussed with a member of SU staff.

In addition to this, SU policy dictates that when having society socials, it should be made clear that members do not have to drink.

Many societies do have alcohol free events, but these are not always prioritised. The drinking culture around society socials doesn’t always make it accessible or fun for those who do not drink, so being a teetotaller on a university campus can be very isolating.

New societies have cropped up across campus to combat this, including Societea where Dutch courage is not required to make friends - instead, members prefer to chat over a good cuppa.

As the only teetotal person amongst my friends, I still enjoy evenings out with them while they have a glass or two of wine or a pint, as long as there is a suitable selection of alcohol-free alternatives. But on campus, those alternatives are lacking, and the culture of predrinks means teetotallers can feel even more out of place on nights out.

This is where the SU needs to focus some of its attention if it wants to be more inclusive and make spaces like the bars and the LCR more considerate. It should create more alcohol-free spaces and events that everyone can enjoy (and remember the day after).

“Millenials are snowflakes” Dorothy Reddin Features Writer

Most freshers this year will have been born in the year 2000: complete and utter millennials.

Yet this seemingly harmless, edgy label has often been synonymous with being perceived as “snowflakes” - for being too thinskinned and taking offence over everything.

But does this have an element of truth, or is this really just another issue to be offended by?

Over the past couple of years, university campuses have been generating a “safe space” culture and encouraging students to participate in shutting down anything that they deem to be offensive.

This was prevalent in 2016 when students at the University of Oxford called for a statue of colonialist, Cecil Rhodes, to be removed because of his racist and whitesupremacist views.

The second-wave feminist, Germaine Greer, was no-platformed

by Cardiff University for her apparent transphobic views. And, we cannot ignore the fact that UEA were among several universities to ban The Sun newspaper on our campus back in 2013 as part of the “No more page 3” campaign, after the Students’ Union claimed it had violated our union policies and undermined gender equality.

“Just because you’re offended, it doesn’t mean you’re right” This is an example of a generation of people who are raised to believe that their feelings are all that matters in the world.

Just because someone is offended over something, does not necessarily mean that they are correct in their views. It is everyone’s democratic right to be

offensive, and offensiveness cannot logistically be legislated against.

Universities are meant to be the places where students can have political debates and listen to each other and learn from each other’s differences, without having their free speech curtailed.

Throughout everyone’s life we all come across people who have views we find reprehensible; however, you must be able to listen to them and prove them wrong with your rebuttal.

By no-platforming certain speakers with misogynistic views, for example, that is just going to drive those people underground and you won’t be able to challenge their problematic views.

Furthermore, this will make your argument stronger and overall more impassioned about your viewpoint due to engaging in the diversity of thought.

Exposing people with disgusting views can prove detrimental to their careers because people get to see how ridiculous they are.

A key example of this is when

former British National Party leader, Nick Griffin, appeared on BBC One’s Question Time in 2009.

He made many inflammatory remarks, and his career suffered immensely as a result.

Therefore, this shows that curtailing free speech in order not to offend the “snowflakes” of this generation is pointless.

J u s t because y o u ’ r e offended, it doesn’t mean you’re right.

Tweet us @ Concrete_UEA with your thought. Are we too delicate?

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October 9th 2018

Features

University crackdown on essay mills

Senior Features writer Roo Pitt investigates the easy way to get the grades A recent letter to the Education Secretary signed by some 40 ViceChancellors from across the UK called on the government to ban so called ‘Essay Mills’. The letter calls for these companies to be made illegal amid fears they are undermining the integrity of degree courses.

Using ‘Essay Mills’ and submitting the work received from them is a form of plagiarism, more specifically, contract cheating.

It encompasses the use of these ‘Essay Mills’ or any unauthorised third party to conduct work or research on the student’s behalf and therefore being misrepresented as the student’s own work.

In a statement released by the University of East Anglia’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Neil Ward, he said: “UEA has a strict plagiarism and collusion policy in place and regularly audits our

practices to ensure we take action appropriately when required. We support any initiative which ensures that students are judged fairly on work they produce. While UEA was not one of the 40 universities to write to the Education Secretary we support the initiative in principle.”

The Quality and Assurance Agency (QAA) have published recommendations focused on aiding organisations, such as universities, to tackle this issue.

Arguably the most important of these is education, for both students and staff, to ensure they have the support and information required to make informed decisions.

On this the QAA recommend focusing on academic integrity through early, written, information to students whilst also providing support to students that enables them to develop essential academic skills. Acting as a pro-active

preventative measure against the use of these mills, the QAA also focus their recommendations on both prevention and detection alongside policy and procedural

“They are undermining the integrity of degree courses” measures that include the recording of statistics that will allow for more detailed analysis of the problem these mills pose.

It’s clear that these recommendations from the QAA are likely to be more effective at

addressing the root cause of the problem that leads to students using ‘Essay Mills’, however, a national approach by the government may at least help to make them more difficult to access.

Speaking to the BBC, the Universities Minister, Sam Gyimah said: “I expect universities to be educating students about these services and highlight the stiff, and possibly life-changing, penalties they face. I also want the sector to do more to grip the problem - for example by tackling advertising of these services in their institutions and finally blocking these services from sending an alarming number of emails to the inboxes of university students and staff.”

Jenna Chapman, Undergraduate Education Officer, said: “We would never condone or recommend that students use essay writing services, agencies who profit from exploiting

students’ anxieties about their academic performance and future job prospects.

“While outlawing essay writing services might reduce their use in the short term, this issue is broader than simply banning the practice itself, because we recognise that there are a number of reasons why students might take such action.

Universities need to consider the effect of high volume, clashing assessment deadlines on students, and design their curricula to reduce the stress and anxiety that this can cause. In addition, universities have a responsibility to ensure sufficient academic and personal support is available and that students are able to access these services without delay.

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Livewire has a brand new schedule about to kick off this Monday at 8:30 and it’s jam packed with brilliant new shows - including Concrete’s show A Week In Concrete!

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9th October 2018

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The archive:

Many of you will be familiar with the 5pm rush for First Bus. It seems Concrete wasn’t happy with the bus service in 2015 and not much has changed since.

Last issue we reported on changes to the 25/26 scheudule to reduce waiting times, but do you think it’s worked? Reckon it’s just as good as in 2015?

This article reported on students up in arms over changes to the 21/22 bus route. Those who live in Bowthorpe know only too well the struggle to get to campus - sorry it’s still no better.

Let us know how you feel @Concrete_UEA.

2 0 # r e b m Nu ACROSS

DOWN

2 - A-ha!

1 - In other words.

5 - Expressive.

2 - Made public.

7 - A pause from study (2

3 - Leaning text.

Words)

4 - Well off.

8 - New podcast hosted by

6 - Cheap form of

PPL: ‘Politics at the ______’

travelling, mentioned in

10 - The editor’s opinion.

this issue of Concrete.

13 - American playwright

9 - Concrete, but not the

and essayist, literary

news.

festival named after this

11 - Anagram for: Boor etc

person. (2 Words)

12 - And the rest.

16 - Father of General,

14 - At a distance.

Regan, Cordelia (2 Words)

15 - Biographical Film

Concrete Crossword

17 - Working with others in an unauthorised manner.

Last issue’s answers: 1 - Educational. 2, Concrete. 3, Lower Common Room. 4, Ziggurats. 5, Lasdun. 6, Tempered. 7, Library. 8, Faculty. 9, Laundrette. 10, Lake. 11, Danube. 12, UEATV. 13, Research. 14, Sportspark. 15, The Square. 16, Boudica. 17, Eaton Park. 18, Alumni. 19, Fresher. 20, Rent. 21, Livewire. 22, Ramen. 23, Gormley. 24, Cite.

25, Wensum.

Comment

16

9th October 2018

Strikes:

“The legal equivalent of blackmail during a hostage situation”

Photo: Matt Nixon

Seàn Bennett Comment Writer

We all remember the strikes of last year. Whether you were for or against them, it was hard to miss the pickets flanking University Drive and the sounds of honking horns of support from passing motorists.

Exam season was fast approaching and yet, for a time, our campus ground came to a halt before our very eyes. The scale of the whole thing was impressive, a true demonstration of union power and the working person’s rights. But for all of its historic importance, the whole affair was quite appallingly timed for students. But then, that was the point, after all.

The 2018 strikes saw the University and College Union (UCU) take industrial action against 64 institutions, represented by Universities UK (UUK). The action was sparked by disputes over major changes to the USS pension scheme,

namely those which would have seen staff losing up to £10,000 a year in retirement, possibly amounting to up to £200,000 in total per person, according to UCU.

“Educators are vital to the continuing functioning of our nation” Over the course of 14 days of striking across February and March, it was estimated that over 40,000 staff strikes resulted in a loss of 575,000 teaching hours for over one million students across the country.

In the end, after a hard fought battle, the UCU voted to return to the negotiating table and the strikes came to an end.

But that’s enough background.

On the whole, I find strikes to be the blunt-force instrument of politics inefficient, lacking nuance and often resulting in many collateral victims.

Indeed, it is those victims who are the fuel for the strikes in the first place.

Somewhat sadistically, the power of industrial action, regardless of industry, comes from the difficulties and irritation it causes innocent students, commuters, or members of the public. True, the main aim is to put pressure on the opposing party, but without the innocents caught in the cross-fire, that pressure would be a lot harder to achieve. Strikes are the legal equivalent of blackmail during a hostage situation.

I freely admit that there are situations in which industrial action does seem to be the only logic course of action. And those situations arise most in the public sector. It is incredibly difficult for any non-state entity to put pressure on a government (or its derivatives), and so public servants must find

ways to increase their bargaining power against the powers-that-be.

The most effective way to do this is to unionise, for workers to pool together their labour and to form a single, homogenous industrial entity with which the government and its agents must contend. The most effective way to utilise this newly assembled labour during negotiations is, unfortunately, to withdraw it.

We can all agree educators are vital to the continued functioning of our nation. However much I dislike the strikes, I am not foolish as to think they are not sometimes worth supporting.

Teachers have, for some time now, had to endure half-baked and poorly executed directives from those above them, often the result of moronic ideas like trying to “save money on education” without any attempt to maintain quality.

Personally, having seen education professionals suffer through such chaos and uncertainty, even I am

inclined to support them when they say they’re being treated unfairly.

After all, I can’t imagine anybody who chooses to teach for a living would ever willingly harm their students without the most just of causes.

There’s now the possibility of additional industrial action in this new academic year. That’s because of a Joint Expert Panel report on universities’ pensions was published last month. This issue has clearly not been resolved.

Regardless of my feelings towards strikes in general, it is clear to me that depriving hardworking educators of up to £200,000 of their pensions is nothing short of daylight robbery.

Intentionally making harder the lives of those who make the rest of our lives better is, to my mind, the very definition of moral bankruptcy. Should more strikes come around this year, I won’t be happy about the action itself, but the protesters will certainly have my support for their cause.

Patrick Wiseman asks what a “People’s Vote” actually means Amber Rudd has said “a People’s Vote could be the result of an impasse” and it would be “preferable to no deal”.

Yet again, it’s more proof if any were still needed that a “People’s Vote” is really just a smokescreen for arrogant, sneering, ivory-tower elitists who still can’t get over the fact they lost.

We already had a “People’s Vote” in 2016, or were they not “people” who voted?

The EU Referendum two years ago was one of the largest political exercises ever in British politics.

Many expected the Remain-backing establishment to win - what with everyone from politicians to bankers and journalists trawling out EU propaganda - yet they lost.

Project Fear failed.

So now the elite, running out of tactics, are pretending to engage in democracy by demanding a “People’s Vote”.

It’s fine if you voted Remain.

But don’t sneer at democracy and spit your dummy out when you don’t get the result you want.

That’s not how democracy works.

In case the people calling for an

undemocratic “People’s Vote” were wondering, maybe they should look at those pro-EU taxpayer-funded propaganda leaflets sent out prior to the Referendum (they cost the taxpayer £9 million).

Chiefly they should peruse the part stating in no uncertain terms “the government will implicate what you decide”. Don’t try to dress this up as a “People’s Vote”, because it isn’t. The people calling for one don’t care about democracy, otherwise they’d respect the result of the Referendum. The only thing they care about is winning.

If Remain had won, do you think they’d be calling for a “People’s Vote” on the decision to stay in the EU? Of course not.

To anyone still unconvinced, or to those still calling for a “People’s Vote” I ask you this: do you fully understand the implications of what you’re asking for?

If the elites get their way and manage to reverse the single biggest political mandate in British political history, no-one will ever have faith in British democracy again.

Think about that for a second: Britain, the exporter of Western

Democracy to the world, an icon of democratic principles and a free society, with a shambolic excuse for a democratic system and no respect for the sanctity of the freedom and ideals it used to nurture.

Is it really worth it to desecrate the democratic process and the sacred power of the vote, just so you can say “I won”? If you would seriously throw our nation’s democracy and principles under a bus to claim some warped form of victory, then I’m sorry but you seriously need to take a long, hard, look in the mirror.

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9th October 2018

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

You don’t have to be middle class to enjoy art Yaiza Canopoli Comment Writer

There seems to be a general understanding that art is something sophisticated, refined, and inaccessible.

The word “art” conjures up images of royal portraits painted by aristocrats, stored in museums, which themselves are often old, imposing buildings.

Art is something superior to the physical world and the people looking at it. It transcends real life.

Artists are almost erased, overshadowed by the discourse that makes their art into something it shouldn’t be: a pretentious commodity.

The truth is art is everywhere.

When artist Anish Kapoor bought the exclusive rights to use Vantablack, the blackest synthetic shade of black, he created yet another instance of someone making their art, and the means to producing it, into something to consume and buy. It’s something quite literally inaccessible, but that does not make art itself middle class.

Personally, I believe the best art stems from frustration, and the search for empowerment.

Some people may say this has been proven in recent years, with the rise of diverse literature and media.

When there is violence against marginalised communities there is often an artistic response.

This can be in the form of speeches, activism, and hashtags,

Photo: N Chadwick, Geograph

or novels, poetry, paintings, and graffiti. In other words, art! This art isn’t for buying.

It unleashes anger, sadness, and hope, and seeks empowerment. It is a way to deal with emotions, to put them into words.

This art isn’t meant for the middle class. But it becomes just that when it transforms into a popular phenomenon, something praised, sought out, something that makes money.

Suddenly the market is filled with poetry collections and novels about things that are raw and personal, something no publisher should ever profit from.

And the people who consume this, who become obsessed with these stories of suffering and empowerment, are none other than

the middle class.

We should not be asking if art is for the middle class, but how to stop them from polluting something so personal and honest.

T h e middle class are stealing p e o p l e ’s suffering, and making it into a commodity.

Art is in the hands o f t h e oppressed.

We need to stop raising certain works to a standard that makes them “worthy” of our attention, sensationalising stories

we perceive as “other”, and making art about money. The ideas of the industrialisation of art and the romanticism of one “unique” piece of artwork both function on the same level.

These ideas feed into a culture of oppression and measuring of worth.

We need to let art exist on its own terms, let it be a part of real life as opposed to something separate and divine.

That is when art will truly be art What do you think? Tweet us @ Concrete_UEA.

Don’t bin traditions Roo Pitt

Comment Writer

“I was raised Catholic, but I’m an Atheist now” Matthew Branston Comment Writer

This year a survey showed that 70 per cent of young people in the UK have no kind of relationship with religion.

I think it’s pretty easy to understand why. Just look at the effect that religion has had. Sure, you can go back to the Crusades and the Thirty Years’ War, but even in recent memory, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Boko Haram are all organisations using religion to achieve their aims.

It’s easy to lay blame at the foot of religion by saying its influence is slowly ruining the world. Honestly, it’s not too wrong to do so.

There’s an argument that religion is kind of like a gun, and it’s not the fault of religion that it’s used in order to hurt people. But when the wrong person uses religion to gain power, the effects can be deadly. Take Jim Jones, former leader of the Peoples Temple cult.

He planned on using religion as a way of convincing people to agree with his political beliefs, but when the roof came crashing down owing to the tenuous legality of many of his actions, he ordered his congregation to drink cyanidelaced Kool-Aid, leading to the death of over 900 people, a third of whom

were children.

It’s not only clerics who use religious rhetoric to achieve their aims. Politicians do as well.

Take the referendums on samesex marriage and abortion in Ireland. Luckily both referendums ended in “Yes” votes, but politicians arguing against change for religious reasons didn’t help that.

The thing is, religion will continue to find it difficult to manipulate the inalienable rights of those who it does not agree with, and further lose respect from young people.

Some say religion’s not at fault for terrorism. Yet without religious yarn fuelling terror, they wouldn’t have died.

Attacks like those may happen for political reasons, but you wouldn’t have that level of influence to convince people if religion didn’t exist. Even then, it’s not like religion is perfect.

I was raised Catholic, but I’m an Atheist now. I don’t hate religion.

I’ve seen how it’s helpful to people, and how it can make a lot of people’s lives better.

But I’m not going to rally against its dying light because it won’t be a loss to the world if religion dies out.

If anything, for young people now, it could be the start of a brighter future.

It’s important not to bin traditions simply because they may be old, no longer relevant or are perhaps now offensive by today’s standards.

Should we not be able to hold onto things for tradition’s sake?

“There needs to be progression...

But at what cost?”

There needs to be progression and society will often move on from the old ways. But at what cost?

A recent example of this is the threat of removing two old gasholders from the Gas Hill area of Norwich.

Installed in the 1880s, they were revolutionary and brought with them the first gas supply to the city.

They stand now on a site earmarked for housing development, but for many locals they are beacons of what once was and one of the last standing industrial landmarks unchanged with time.

With many other disused brownfield sites around the peripheries of the city, why destroy history that cannot be replaced when other sites would be equally as suitable?

It is often important to celebrate and learn from traditions where possible, and while it may not be appropriate for all traditions to

be celebrated, we should almost certainly be learning from them.

Traditions often provide a rare and vital insight into how society has progressed or changed over time.

A prime example of this can be the shift we often see within languages and the way we use words. Pronouns have been under discussion for some time, with many people stating the pronouns they would like to be addressed with at the end of letters and emails as well as within university seminars.

Another question that often arises is whether we should still assume genders and use traditional honorifics such as Miss, Mr, or Mrs. This question has led to the development of a gender-neutral honorific, Mx. We shouldn’t just bin the traditions engrained within our language.

Yet perhaps we can be more

thoughtful around our use of language, and learn lessons from traditions to develop them to suit our society today.

I don’t want this to turn into a debate around the use of gender specific or neutral language, but more around how change is represented.

We can’t bin traditions simply because they are out of date. We must learn from them, shape them, and look at where they fit as we move forward.

While some traditions may need to make way for progressive change, it’s important not to “bin them”. It’s necessary to retain some traditions to hold on to our history and demonstrate where we have come from.

More than that it’s a chance for us to learn, shape, and develop, and traditions provide the essential building blocks.

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9th October 2018

Science UEA lead the way in imageenhancement tech research

2

Hannah Brown Senior Science Writer

A research team from UEA have created real-time imageenhancement technology without the need for extra special features or apps. The technology is designed to be implanted in mass market devices so it could one day be in your smartphone.

The technology enables computers, TVs, and other devices with screens to have HD image quality without the need of editing.

The company is called Spectral Edge, its CEO is Rhodri Thomas, and Professor Graham Finlayson of UEA is the Chief Science Officer.

Dr Alex Hayes and Dr Roberto

Montanga, also part of Spectral Edge, completed their PhDs at UEA.

“Real-time imageenhancement technology” Not only does Spectral Edge envision their technology in future smartphones, but their image fusion technology already appears in cameras, regular DSLRs, sure, but also CCTV, dashcams, drones, and

webcams.

For example, whilst most CCTV is black-and-white with sometimes difficult-to-see imagery, with Spectral Edge’s RGB-IR technology, the images can be clear in colour.

Not only can this technology help people with colour normal vision, but the company originally launched with technology called Eyeteq - imaging software that can subtly modify colours onscreens to help people with colour blindness to distinguish between colours.

These changes don’t affect people with colour normal vision, but it means that people with colour blindness can have far better experiences watching videos and looking at images.

The danger of microplastics

In April, Spectral E d g e secured $5.3 million in further funding from companies Parkwalk Advisors and IQ Capital, both existing investors.

The funding will mean that the R&D (research & design) team can expand to 12, and can specialise into niche areas such as machine learning and embedded Photo: unsplash.com s o f t w a r e development. recently Spectral a finalist Edge still works in the BT Sports Innovation million in further closely with Awards for helping people UEA, and the with colour blindness watch funding company was sport with greater ease.

$5.3

Continuity of care saves lives Evlyn Forsyth-Muris Senior Science Writer

Photo: unsplash.com

Sylvie Tan Science Writer

Microplastics in the oceans are becoming a notorious area of study with increasing concerns on how it affects the food chain.

New research has revealed that these microplastics are now becoming airborne from polluted waters via flying insects, affecting birds and other insect eating creatures.

“It can be transferred up the food chain, placing all organisms in the upper trophic levels at risk” Microplastics are a pervasive

pollutant found in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.

By definition, they are plastic particles that are less than five millimetres in size and are categorised into two sources: primary and secondary.

Primary sources are the direct release of microplastics into the environment while secondary sources are a result of the degradation of macroplastics. They enter into the ecosystem in various shapes and sizes from pellets, fibres and cosmetic beads.

The research led by Rana AlJaibachi from the University of Reading, experimented on Culex pipiens mosquito larvae where they fed the universally common mosquito fluorescent polystyrene beads.

It was concluded that the beads of two micrometres were readily transferred during the larvae’s metamorphosis from pupa to adult.

“Larvae are filter feeders that waft little combs towards their mouths, so they can’t actually distinguish between a bit of plastic and a bit of food”, said Professor Amanda Callaghan from the

University of Reading.

“They eat algae, which are more or less the same size as these microplastics”.

This reaffirms that microplastic pollution will harm ecosystems as it can be transferred up the food chain, placing all organisms in the upper trophic levels at risk.

“It is a shocking reality that plastic is contaminating almost every corner of the environment and its ecosystems”, said Prof Callaghan.

“Much recent attention has been given to the plastics polluting our oceans, but this research reveals it is also in our skies”.

This means that terrestrial birds that eat insects and not-at-risk animals on land will be exposed to microplastics via flying insects.

The most concerning part is that Prof Callaghan confirms that humans are also consuming microplastics.

From seafood, beer, sugar to sea salt, all these food products contain microplastics. With an expected 40 per cent increase in plastic production in the next decade, this calls for crucial research on the consequences of people ingesting microplastics.

A recent paper published in The BMJ collated data from 22 studies and found that contact with the same doctor reduced mortality rates.

Of the 22 studies, 18 found a statistically significant reduction in mortality with an increase in continuity of care (repeated contact between a patient and a particular doctor).

All four remaining studies that found inconclusive or negative results had flaws in their design and execution.

The understanding gained from the paper is that strong interpersonal relationships between patient and doctor, whether this be GP or hospital doctor, improves the care received and thus survival.

It is already known that seeing the same GP every time improves patient satisfaction, increases adherence to medication and reduces hospital admissions.

But previous to the studies in this paper, it was unknown if this translated in to improved outcomes i.e. less deaths.

Whilst all 22 studies were rated

as ‘high quality’, there are some unavoidable issues in studying this topic that could call into question the validity of results.

Firstly, there is no consensus among the research or medical community on the best way to measure continuity of care, nor has it been validated that it is a good proxy for a strong doctor-patient relationship.

Moreover, the nature of the ‘treatment’ means that only observational studies are possible and that control trials, the gold standard of research, are unethical and impractical.

Lastly there is no agreed upon time frame across the papers, so follow up ranged from one weekend to 17 years - suggesting a possible discrepancy in the results.

The ‘personal relationship’ in healthcare has becomes less valued as technological advances improve care, but these papers suggest that continuity of care and a strong doctor-patient relationship should be given higher priority in healthcare planning.

Although, in a cash strapped NHS, seeing the same doctor is a luxury so it is uncertain whether this youthful research will have any significant impact.

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9th October 2018

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

PVC trees giving coral reefs “a fighting chance” Andrew Ferris Science Writer

The World Resources Institute predicts that 90 percent of coral reefs will be threatened by 2050, but a fast-growing scheme in Florida is now leading the fight against this decline. Based in Key Largo, the Coral Restoration Foundation spearheads a global network that aims to restore reefs worldwide by creating coral nurseries.

These farming operations consist of artificial ‘underwater trees’, made from fibre glass and PVC, to which fragments of branching coral are attached and grown in controlled conditions, three times faster than in natural conditions. After nine months, the corals are transplanted into degraded reefs, alongside boulder corals grown in laboratories.

Despite the tree project only commencing in 2011, it has already seen significant successes- 18,000 corals have been replanted so far

in 2018, double the amount planted five years ago.

“After nine months, the corals are transplanted into degraded reefs” Meanwhile, the scheme has spread from Florida, with trees being installed as far afield as Australia and Colombia.

The foundation has expanded simultaneously to worsening deterioration of Florida’s reefs -- which have halved in size in 20 ears, according to Project Baseline.

Climate change, acidification, water pollution and tourism have all contributed to this decline and this pattern is found worldwide, from Belize to the Maldives.

Jessica Levy, Program Manager at the Coral Restoration Foundation, explained they are doing “as much as [they] can now to give these coral populations a fighting chance”, and to avoid global reef extinction, which she believes is likely under current conditions.

This is not only essential for the reefs themselves and the 25 percent of fish species they support, but for us as well - the Reef Resilience Network estimates they provide up to $375 billion in goods and services.

Although the Coral Restoration Foundation’s nurseries are not alone in tackling coral decline - 3D printing of artificial reefs in the Maldives is one notable example - it is one of the most replicable, least expensive and fastest methods available. Nevertheless, damage to the nursery by Hurricane Irma serves as a stark reminder that more action needs to be taken to prevent further deterioration, by tackling climate change.

Photo: unsplash.com

Thousands of hospital appointments missed

Photo: unsplash.com

Hannah Brown

Senior Science Writer

From January to June this year, over 30,000 hospital appointments have been missed by patients either not turning up, or showing up too late to be seen, NHS data shows.

At the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, nearly 14,000 people out of around 250,000 patients missed their appointment, meaning that the hospital shoulders the no-show bill of £1.38 million.

In King’s Lynn, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, over 8,000 patients did not show, and £979,000 was wasted.

The James Paget University

Hospital in Gorleston had the highest ratio of missed appointments, with nearly 10,000 patients missing their appointment. The bill was £1.1 million.

Julia Hunt, the Director of Nursing at the James Paget, said “missed appointments delay care for other patients, waste staff time, and cost money.

We would urge anyone who cannot attend their hospital appointment to let us know in good time. We can then re-allocate the appointment to another patient in need of healthcare.

“If you know you cannot attend your doctor or hospital appointment, it is vital that you phone the practice and cancel or

change your appointment. Not only does this mean that other patients can be seen faster, it saves millions of pounds that can go into other NHS services”.

Dr Robert Harwood, the Chairman of the BMA’s (British Medical Association) consultant committee, said “it is important that no appointments are wasted at a time when the NHS is under incredible stress. We should not stigmatise patients who may for legitimate reasons be unable to attend.

However patients should make every possible effort to rearrange their appointment so that another person is able to receive treatment in their place”.

If patients called ahead to cancel appointments, the NHS could have instead funded: 9,000 ambulances 163 nurses on salary 8 inpatient treatments Over 9,000 inpatient bed days

9th October 2018

Travel

20

A hitchhiker's guide to backpacking Rachel Glaves Travel Writer

It is unfortunate that being a poor, broke student coincides with the time of life when a person wants to travel.

I have backpacked around Britain and Europe on an incredibly low budget and had the time of my life doing it, but I would not necessarily say it is a walk in the park. Of course, there are positives and negatives to low budget travelling, but is the adventure worth the risks and sacrifices?

I find travelling freeing and exciting because it is the unknown.

It is an adventure. Something I rarely have cooped up at university for nine months.

Despite the freedom, I also find travelling scary.

This is enhanced when travelling on a budget as it forces me into being sociable - something I rarely am. I am made to step out of my comfort zone, but in a way that makes it more exciting. It means meeting new people.

Low budget travelling often means hitchhiking. It is slightly

comical that hitchhiking, something we would never normally do in England, is a normality when travelling abroad.

There are undoubtedly safety concerns to hitchhiking: the risk of taking a lift from people you have never met to places you have never been and the increased risk of hitchhiking at night.

However, low budget travel is not only hitchhiking, sometimes a low budget requires thinking in advance and not travelling blind.

Travelling blind is not always necessary but many people choose to do it.

Sometimes for the adventure and sometimes to reduce travel cost.

Hostelling is one way to travel blind or on a budget.

They are cheap, not always the nicest places but always the best places to find a fantastic atmosphere.

They are certainly the best places to meet new people and feel safe in your independence.

Travelling has become an important thing to me, and the concerns surrounding it should not stop people from backpacking on a budget.

Through my travelling I have

met so many people, many of whom are my age.

It’s like backpacking has become a culture amongst people in their twenties, particularly in England.

It is, to a degree, easy for English people to backpack as our language is spoken in most foreign countries.

I believe it is because of this that I have met so many English people abroad.

O u r confidence to travel is increased.

Whilst y o u m a y b e

travelling to meet new people from new countries, a touch of home is often nice for when you are missing it.

Like everything, backpacking and hitchhiking has it positives and negatives.

Ultimately, it comes down to

confidence and how safe one feels.

However, travelling on a budget does not prevent an adventure, in fact, the best adventures I have had were on a budget whilst backpacking and hostelling.

It is not for everyone, but it forces you to experience somewhere new, see new cultures and meet new people.

Have you been backpacking? Tweet us @Concrete_UEA with your tips.

Photo: Vecteezy

Dark tourism: our fascination with morbidity Megan Furr Travel Writer

David Farrier’s new Netflix series ‘Dark Tourist’ explores the surreal and often ‘bizarre’ world of dark tourism, an alternative and controversial venture involving visiting ‘places that are identified with death and suffering’.

“Places that are identified with death and suffering” Dark tourism captures both the intrinsic desire to learn about the history of human experience and for some, simply morbid curiosity.

It is worlds apart from what some feel, is the mundanity of mainstream tourism.

Therefore, these so-called ‘dark tourists’ want to instead experience and engage with provocative places which test the accepted moral and ethical boundaries.

One example of this trend is the rise in nuclear tourism, where places such as Chernobyl attract thrillseeking visitors who risk radiation poisoning in order to visit nuclear

fallout sites, and their abandoned and to ‘see how good they have it’, radioactive ghost towns. simultaneously turning victims into Yet, the morbid and distasteful some kind of acceptable commodity. element of dark tourism still hinders Yet dark tourism can also play those who are trying to change a part in the ‘healing process’. In perceptions. some case it contributes to the YouTuber Logan Paul’s visit remembrance or empathy with to Aokigahara, a forest in Japan the victims, historical validation infamous for a high number of or a sense of social responsibility. suicides, resulted, rightfully so, in The number of visitors travelling widespread criticism. to concentration camps, such as In an era that is dominated Auschwitz, and the ‘killing fields’ by media, visiting and of Cambodia, highlight the stark subsequently posting about such reality of humanity, the potential a sad and eerie place runs the for destruction and exploration of risk of “sensationalising” and also human morality. becoming desensitised to the Okay, so that might be a bit deep. tragedy of suicide.

However, it is fair to suggest that This is why some critics have the phenomenon of dark tourism presented dark tourism as being in a in some areas has raised awareness similar vein as voyeurism; ‘enjoying of unofficial histories of human seeing the pain or distress of others’ suffering and injustice, if anything and selfishly profiting from the this can exhibit a greater emotional tragedies of others. response, much more than looking One recent example of this is the at a photo. angry reactions from local people, Dark tourism, on the surface, and the widespread community, toPhoto: could Delaina be anotherHaslam, endeavourFlickr for the a group of tourists who were seen risk-seeking and cash-privileged, taking selfies in front of Grenfell who use such experiences to engage Tower in London, the site of a tragic with their own morbid curiosity, and deadly fire last year. trawling through places of genocide, This also points to the importance tragedy and other such events. of proximity to the disaster itself; Perhaps it is the controversy and tourists who engage with dark questionable ethics which attracts tourism have to show a much people to ‘dark tourism'. larger degree of self-awareness and It is, ultimately, a risky and understand how their actions can be complex endeavour, filled with viewed by different groups. moral and ethical dilemmas, but it's It can often appear such tourists all in how you conduct yourself. Be are using this practice as a thrill- respectful, thoughtful and you can't seeking escapism from their lives go far wrong.

21

9th October 2018

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

Erica Fransisca Travel Writer

The varied custom of tipping has always been a controversy among travellers everywhere. Leaving tips in restaurants may be second nature for some, but there are also those who are baffled by the concept of tipping.

Though tipping may be rooted in the American culture and customary in England, it's actually frowned upon in places like Japan and China. Why do different countries regard tipping differently? Let us briefly trace back its history.

It began in the Middle Ages when a master acknowledged his servants by giving them some coins. In England, it later became popular for guests to give servants gratuities if their services were beyond expectation.

Meanwhile, American travellers adopted these "genteel rules" in 1840, which then spread to become

the norm of the early 20th century.

Today, most American waiters and waitresses live off tips, which can reach over triple the amount of their minimum wage. We also hear horror stories from customers who don't tip enough - from being screamed at to having coins thrown back at them.

On the one hand, I believe tipping is a great practice as it was originally meant to be an expression of goodwill and thanks.

However, in countries with minimum wage, like England where we're used to leaving 10 per cent of the bill when eating out, I don't think it should be a rule forced onto unwilling customers. Instead, let us

£

enough; not having minimum wage is not an excuse.

There should rather be a mutual respect between servers and customers. Imagine if all restaurant guests were modest and generous, while the waiters and waitresses happily offer their best services. Wouldn't restaurants be more enjoyable for the people?

Wouldn't workers feel happier in their job?

You must also be careful not to tip at restaurants in Japan, South Korea and some regions of China.

Their culture believes that servers work hand in hand with one another as a team. If customers want to convey satisfaction and enjoyment, they are expected to return to the restaurant again, refer it to friends and help grow the business.

In other countries such as Hong Kong and Indonesia, most restaurants include service charge on their bill and customers are not expected to tip. Australian restaurants don't typically charge for services, but due to adequate wages waiters and waitresses aren't particularly concerned about their tipping.

In the end, tipping and travelling is an inseparable matter; you will encounter it on your ventures around the world.

Just be mindful of where you are and try to understand the locals’ perception on tipping.

After all, you wouldn't want a waiter or waitress to chase after you or unintentionally offend the restaurant's entire staff, would you?

Happy travelling!

Does travelling broaden the mind?

Sylvie Tan Travel Writer

We are in an era where travelling around the world is at the top of many people’s bucket list. The reasons behind travelling may vary between people. Many travel to explore other cultures, others travel to “find themselves” while some travel for the food adventure and so on. Of course, travelling is exciting and a great way to learn new things, but what makes travelling unique is that it changes you as a person because you are no longer naïve to the little bubble you are in; there is a whole wide world out there with many things to learn. Travelling most definitely broadens your

mind. Our natural human instinct of curiosity fuels us with wonder and the drive to seek the unknown. With that wonder, we are in awe with the sights we see while travelling just because it is something unfamiliar to what we know.

It opens your mind, expanding it with knowledge, and gratitude to be in the experience. As we travel, we see different cultures, ways of life, and traditions, further filling us up with knowledge on how other people live while also acknowledging that our culture is not the only culture out there.

There are many things that cultures share, and many that we can adopt from other cultures. Ultimately, as we immerse ourselves into this

foreign experience, we leave with new perspectives in life, expanding that small bubble we live in a little wider. And as we continue to travel, the bubble expands a little wider with every experience we take, broadening our minds and making us a more wholesome person. Besides the whole physical experience, travelling makes us mentally stronger and more aware of the world. By being out of our comfort zone in a foreign land, travelling tests our minds and its ability to cope with new experiences. Sometimes we may be afraid to try new challenges but as we continue to travel, these fears may be conquered and replaced with curiosity, making us mentally

stronger than before.

There will be times, especially when solo travelling, when we are alone. Some might find the company of just themselves a little lonely, however we can learn to focus on what we intend to explore instead of how we are exploring them alone. There is definitely beauty in experiencing the place alone and discovering yourself at the same time. One might find strength in themselves, and possibly even peace, returning back to reality with their newly-founded self.

There is still so much more to chase out there, so take the chance to travel and learn what the Earth has to offer us: travelling is the antidote to ignorance!

a

Tips on tipping

remember the origins of this tipping custom, when it was given by guests with genuine gratitude. Let it be an act of generosity, in which not only do we tip our servers but treat them with respect and kindness.

On the other hand, I don't entirely agree with waiters and waitresses who are rude to customers because they haven't b e e n tipped

Coming to America Chapter 2 Amelia Rentell

I have been to an American Football game. In fact, I have been to two. You can smell the patriotism from miles away. Fraternities start drinking at 6am. It is like Derby Day but the sports are weird and stop start.

I’m unsure if you’re aware of this, but the Americans love a parade.

Every time the Oklahoma Sooners score a touchdown, a horse and cart races out onto the pitch. Guns are fired. The big screens go wild, not to mention the crowd who chant “Oooooooh U!”. Cheerleaders are doing flips on the sidelines, there’s so much to watch - I’m unsure how anyone can focus on the game.

“You can smell the patriotism from miles away”

My College stadium is bigger than Wembley. The first game started at 11am in 36c heat. By midday, I was a puddle. Hair scraped back, shirt tied up, hugging my bottle of water. My cool façade was long gone. When I get home, I lay under the ceiling fan for about three hours.

The second game started at 6pm. This means you have sensible time to drink beforehand. This is what I’m trained for. I am taken to a “frat house” party before the game.

Essentially, this is someone’s backyard. The house is locked and there are beers everywhere. Like Brett Kavanaugh, most Americans have a penchant for beer.

When we get to the game, they do that thing in the break where a family is reunited with their mum who they think is still fighting abroad in the army. I cried.

I have a midterm exam coming up which means I really am an American. I have to buy the paper book to write my answers in outrageous.I hope you’re all doing well at home. Soul Train looked good this week. I miss the LCR and all the outrageous things that happen there. I’ll let you know when I’ve found the equivalent.

Until then, VKs are not on me as I’m not eligible to buy them and no one here knows what they are.

Image: Vecteezy

Sport

9th October 2018

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Get active this term with UEA Sport sessions Connor Southwell Sport Writer

UEA Sport are running a number of initiatives to encourage students to engage with sport in order to improve physical and mental wellbeing, make new friends and to have fun.

The schemes have been designed to be inclusive and affordable, thus providing everyone with the chance of playing sport during their time at the UEA. Whether it be a conventional sport like Football or you fancy your hand at Rock Climbing, the Sportspark plays host to a range of sporting opportunities.

One of these brand-new initiatives

is the Ziggurat Challenge. The Ziggurat Challenge has been designed to promote enjoyable participation in the spirit of sporting competition, as well as encourage friendly rivalry between schools and departments. Participants compete for their school of study and teams comprise of both staff and students.

This scheme is a fantastic way of combining studies with healthy competition.

What’s more, it allows you to attempt a full host of sports throughout the year.

Whether you fancy your hand at ‘Tug-O-War’ or consider yourself a natural at Archery, the Ziggurat Challenge caters for all tastes. Any further questions regarding the Ziggurat Challenge can be directed

to studentsport@uea.ac.uk or you can call 01603 59356. If competitive sport isn’t quite your cup of tea, UEA Active are hosting a range of drop-in-sessions that promote the fun and non-competitive aspects of sport. UEA Active have a strong commitment to ensuring opportunities to participate in sporting activities are as accessible as possible. Leisurely sport allows for students to participate in a relaxed environment. These dropin-sessions provide an affordable opportunity to join in without any requirement for membership or long-term commitment.

Students are given the opportunity to get active and take part in a wide variety of sport and

An interview with: SU Activities and Opportunities Officer Elected in Spring with more than 65 per cent of the vote, it’s hard to argue that SU Activities and Opportunities Officer, Oli Gray, wasn’t the popular choice. Concrete sat down with Gray to chat about his plans for UEA’s sports clubs, how he wants to widen participation in sports at UEA and why sport can help with mental health. He’s bristling with enthusiasm as we sit down in one of the Bookable Rooms, and we soon end up discussing his manifesto pledges for sports clubs. Gray, who has taken a year out of his undergraduate study in Environmental Science for the role after his second year, explains his background in university sport.

A keen swimmer as a child, he became part of the UEA Surf and Snow Sports committees last year, which really made him realise the opportunities university sport held.

He picks out speaking at a Year 10 summer school as one of his highlights of the job so far, citing the “eye-opening” possibilities for sport at university compared to school, thanks to UEA’s 60 clubs. In terms of the role, Gray has a varied job. “I started in July. What strikes me is that it’s such a varied role. One minute I’ll be planning freshers’, the next I’ll be in a Sports Operations meeting with the Sportspark team, the next I’ll be planning some key financial decisions.”

The job is also about talking to staff and students – he’s looking forward to meeting more of them this semester – representing students and campaigning on issues that affect sport and societies at UEA. Gray explains he has three key strands of campaigning.

“Mental health – a lot of the student officers campaign on mental health, so it was important that I made it specific to our student groups [sports clubs, societies etc.].

We’ve got two big ideas for this, around mental health in sport. The first is activity sessions… physical activity can really help.

“The UEA Sport team has done some fantastic work in getting

sessions on, particularly around the exam season. You might have seen the Chill Out or Smash it Out sessions, including Yoga, Boxfit and walking around the lake, and we’re looking to continue that this year.”

Gray explains that he’s also passionate about getting mental health training to club committees, citing recent statistics that suggest that students are far more likely to turn to their friends for help than professionals.

“No two days are ever the same”

Gray says he wants to use ‘mental health first-aid training’ to empower sports clubs, “training our students to signpost people and point them in the direction to get some more help. And I think that’ll really help not just sports club members, but everyone at UEA. Quite often the hardest thing on that journey is seeking help.”

“My second campaign is around Wednesday afternoons and keeping them free. I didn’t want to just keep it around Wednesday afternoons, though, because any late lectures are rubbish!

“The majority of courses are creeping later and later into the evenings. We believe in the Students’ Union that part of the reason for that is there are more students and not enough space.

As an officer team, we’re working to make sure current students’ timetabling isn’t affected by the increase in student numbers.”

“My third and final one is around value for money.” One of Gray’s major election pledges was to encourage sports clubs and societies to offer single-semester memberships to students, with a particular focus on

international students enrolled at UEA for one term. This also extends to a reduced SAM fee for one semester.

Gray recognises that there are obstacles to tackle here in terms of club budgeting, explaining how much his job entails financial decisions (he’s also chair of the SU’s Finance Committee), and how he represents both students and club committees – needing to balance their interests. He explains: “Cost should never be a barrier to participating in sport or activities.

We’ve worked with the Sportspark team to ensure that Sports Association Membership (SAM) has been frozen at £50 this year which is good news for our students.”

What does his typical day look like? He shows me his diary, packed with staff committee meetings, leadership sessions and presentations. It’s a cliché, but he’s right: “no two days are ever the same.” Gray’s looking forward to BUCS matches starting, having dropped in on a number of taster sessions, and says he’s keen to watch as many UEA sports teams as he can, having travelled to Essex last year for Derby Day. “I’ll be down at Colney Lane week-in, week-out,” he smiles.

Among his current workload, Gray wants to focus on promoting sports clubs (“we need to shout about what they do”) and he has done a lot of work on the newlyrevamped Sports Night, the first of which will be this Wednesday (10th).

Inclusivity and accessibility are major keys, with Gray keen on breaking down barriers to sporting participation among the student body – he’s currently organising the return of the Take A Stand charter, a public display of inclusivity among sports clubs.

My last question to Gray was a

fitness sessions. Affordability is key, with the sport sessions being priced at only £1. Fitness sessions are £2, and all drop-in sessions work on a first come, first served basis.

The workload and stress of university life can sometimes prove overwhelming, which is why UEA Active have organised a range of free physical activity sessions for students to take part in to help alleviate stress.

These sessions include, yoga, box fit and free lunch time walking clubs. Taking time out of studies to do some physical activity can help distress you and reinvigorate you for the rest of the day. The Sportspark offer five different Student Membership upgrades; all designed

to save you money on the classes and facilities that you use the most.

Students are entitled to discounts in order to use the facilities as and when they please. The Student OffPeak Gym Membership works out at £2.89 per week. This allows you to visit the Sportspark Gym anytime at the weekend or before 4pm and after 8.30pm during the week. The Sportspark is home to a breadth of sports, with both indoor and outdoor spaces available.

To find out more information about memberships, or any queries, questions or additional information you require, visit the website, www. sportspark.co.uk or for further details call Sportspark reception on 01603 592398.

Carrow Road: a new perspective

Photo: Chloe Howcroft

Meyzi Adoni

Sport Senior Reporter

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I went to Carrow Road to watch my first ever Norwich City match. It was my first time watching a Football game in a stadium outside Turkey and it was a different and amazing experience.

If you are a Football fan and go to matches occasionally, you know that each team and stadiums have their own rituals and chants. And once you learn them, that team and stadium feels like home. I’ve visited so many different stadiums in Europe, but they were all touristic tours. So being at Carrow Road and watching this match gave me a chance to meet with new rituals and hear new chants.

Norwich City was on a 4-match winning streak before this match and it was possible to feel that everyone was in a positive mood.

We were sitting in a really nice seat, close to the pitch, so it was possible to see some of the players really closely. But sitting at the front rows have some negative sides as well.

For example, you can only see one side of the game clearly. I was hardly seeing the left wing from where I was sitting. But of course, it was not a big issue, it is just a warning if you want to go and watch a match there (same thing happens at all the stadiums).

We were surrounded by regular

ticket holders and found ourselves in the middle of a group of friends who welcomed us really well. They were telling us everything we need to know about the match and explaining the chants. I was glad they did that, because before the match all I was telling to my friend was how I didn’t know the words of the songs they sing during the match and how weird that made me feel. But on the other hand, they only sang one song before the match started and that was it.

It was surprising for me, because normally when I go to Football or Basketball matches in Istanbul, we always sing different chants and never stop. During the half time, we took a selfie with everyone who was sitting next to us and again we felt very welcomed.

There was a moment where I felt surprised. When people were not happy with the decisions of the referee, they were shouting, “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Normally, I am used to hearing people say different things all at the same time and hearing ‘booo’ sounds. And because I am still used to that, I couldn’t participate to “You don’t know what you’re doing!” chants. It may sound funny, but I tried and it felt strange.

In general, I know that I will definitely be back at Carrow Road soon. I really advise everyone to go and watch a Norwich City match before you graduate. It is worth it.

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9th October 2018

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

Hockey start well Continued from Back Page UEA Hockey have a number of plans for the season.

Their annual Mike Covell memorial weekend, including an alumni match, will again be held to honour their former player Covell who passed away from Meningitis, and raise funds for Meningitis charities.

There are also two mouthwatering clashes at the Sportspark as the men’s firsts face the seconds in the league, with Hegde hoping his side can cause an upset.

UEA will also be entering teams into men’s indoor and mixed competitions, and have a BUCS team for each gender, entered in their respective Midlands 3B leagues and Conference Cups.

The BUCS side are also targeting promotion after being relegated last season - keep reading Concrete to find out how their quest for the Midlands 3B title goes.

Graham added: “You can get involved in Hockey whatever year you’re in.

“There are guys now playing in the first team who started here having never played Hockey before. They’ve worked their way up and got more skilful.

“We have loads of socials, I’m looking forward to welcoming all the freshers in.”

BUCS is back! Connor Southwell previews October’s hottest opening-day fixtures As freshers’ week culminates and the settling in process is now well underway, those students participating in sport eagerly anticipate the beginning of their respective BUCS campaigns.

Wednesday 10 October is a huge date on the calendar for many of UEA’s sports clubs, who will be hoping to record success in a host of sports from Football to Ultimate Frisbee. This serves as the

“The women’s first football team face Warwick in hope of building on last year’s 3rd place finish” first opportunity for new students on campus to fulfil their sporting potential while representing the university.

Following a highly successful

2017-18 season resulting in promotion, the men’s 1st Football team welcome Nottingham Trent 2nd to Colney Lane Playing Fields with the aim of replicating last season’s success, but this time out, in a higher division.

The women’s 1st Football team face Warwick 1st in hope of building on last year’s 3rd place finish. They will be hoping to kick start their season with a positive away win to get off the mark.

Elsewhere, the women’s 1st Hockey team welcome Anglia Ruskin 1st to the UEA Sportspark, hoping to put last season’s disappointment behind them. After a season to forget for our hockey team, they will be keen to avenge the woes of the last campaign with a victory here.

Last season was a positive one for the men’s 1st Lacrosse team, who achieved promotion from the Midlands 2B division and face a Warwick side who finished 4th last season.

After the heartbreak of defeat in the Midlands Conference Cup last season, the women’s 1st Netball team face a Birmingham 3rd side who they beat on the closing day

Photo: Tony Allen on last season by 30:33. Meanwhile, the women’s 2nd Netball side host Coventy at the UEA Sportspark in search of bettering their 3rd place position as they look for promotion.

Ultimate Frisbee begins again on 17 October, with the men’s team hosting Nottingham Trent at Colney Lane Fields in the Conference Cup looking to improve on their disappointing 2nd round exit last season. They were runners up last

season and will hold ambitions of winning the league this year.

The women’s Fencing team will be hoping to better their 6th place league position last season, they travel to Nottingham on 17 October.

As ever, the sports teams competing on 10 October do so with a strong backing from all on campus. We’ll be actively following all the teams in their respective searches for success.

Five-Star footballers back to winning ways in Senior Cup Tony Allen Sport Editor

UEA Football boss Paul Neary was full of praise as his team swept aside Reepham Town 5-0 in the first round of the Norfolk Senior Cup at Colney Lane. Neary, who reached the competition’s Carrow Road final last season as Downham Town manager, said that the first half was up there with the best performances he’d been part of in his career so far.

The week before the game, UEA travelled to Manchester United to learn from their academy coaches and play their scholars. They came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to a first-half Ryan Swift equaliser and a last-minute winner from Jody Scowcroft as he pushes towards the first team.

“It was a great experience for the lads, with a thoroughly deserved [win]. We changed formation for that game and we stuck with it today. It’s a good formation for possession.”

Neary’s assistant Ray Harrison added: “We wanted to get our names out there and show what we are capable of. In the first 45 minutes, I thought we were unstoppable. The lads did really well today.”

UEA were 3-0 up by the break against Reepham, thanks to a trio of sublime strikes from range from Swift, Mohammed Hassan and a second for Swift which all nestled in the top corner of the visitors’ goal, giving the Reepham goalkeeper no chance.

Photo: Tony Allen In a dominant first-half performance, UEA also went close on a number of other occasions, looking like a completely different side to the one defeated by Easton seven days previously. Their wingbacks were a constant menace, while the lively Luke Young was one of several UEA players who had chances – many of which were poked agonisingly wide or fired just over the crossbar.

Reepham’s attacking play looked

a little more dangerous in the second half, but they were unable to prevent UEA scoring twice more, through Owen Betts who turned in a Rinor Plepolli corner and James Axcell who coolly slotted under the advancing keeper (above) to add extra gloss to the scoreline of a game that was probably one of the easier afternoons in UEA stopper Tom Smith’s career to date.

However, there were some injury concerns for UEA which

marred the great result. Star man Young was substituted at half-time as a precaution after aggravating a groin injury he picked up in Manchester while Henry Clark hobbled off in the second half after rolling his ankle. Neither, however, are thought to be serious. Elsewhere in UEA Football, the reserves won 2-1 away to Bungay Town with both goals coming from Dan Campfield (MOTM Sam Nelson), while the third team beat Castle Acre 3-2 away

from home in the Junior League Cup with a brace from Joe Rickett and a strike from man-of-the-match Tomasz Siemienczuk to complete a hat-trick of wins for our sides.

The following week, UEA defeated Wymondham 8-0 to advance in the Mummery Cup thanks to a hat-trick for Young and a brace from Swift.

Hassan, Clark and substitute Scowcroft were also on target as UEA progressed.

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9th October 2018

Sport

Luck of the English for UEA Hockey Tony Allen Sport Editor

UEA Hockey have enjoyed a strong start to the season.

Their four men’s and four women’s teams have all been in action in recent weeks preparing for and beginning their local league campaigns.

The men’s firsts prepared for the new season with two friendly wins

“I’m really happy with the way everyone played”

Photo: Tony Allen

UEA 4-1 Norwich Dragons 3XI

under the Sportspark floodlights in two days.

First, they beat Norwich Dragons 6-4. Seconds captain Pranav Hegde watched as several of his charges slotted into the team well. UEA were cruising by half-time, with an assured performance seeing them go into the break 2-0 up.

UEA’s defence looked comfortable, attacking from the back through the superb Elliot Powell and Alfie Sewell, with plenty of substitutions throughout getting much-needed minutes into UEA’s legs. Tom Chaney netted the best, from UEA’s third and final penalty corner of the half on the stroke of half-time.

The game livened up in the second 35 minutes. UEA were 3-0 up soon after the pushback through Tom Price, from another corner.

The Dragons then rallied, scoring three, including one from a penalty corner, either side of a UEA goal.

A Henry Ashcroft tap-in restored some daylight between UEA and their opponents before Ben Mann found the net again for the hosts with a fearsome shot to all but seal the result.

There was still time for the Dragons to get a fourth consolation and leave the s c o r e l i n e flattering the visitors.

The next day, UEA made it two wins from two as they saw off Norwich City seconds.

Tom England was the star, netting twice in a 5-1 victory.

UEA went a goal down, and their defence

was tested with several looping through balls, but they maintained discipline and dealt with the threat well thanks to Arthur Graham and Dominic Strong in particular.

UEA were soon back on level terms, with Rob Harbord looking particularly lively in midfield, and after goalkeeper Lewis Nicoll had to be alert to make a pair of good saves, UEA took a 2-1 half-time lead after a mazy run from Lawrence Oldham.

As the match progressed, the weather conditions worsened, with spells of heavy rain creating a slick surface for both teams to contend with.

Sollie Cook was playing well in midfield, and Oldham got on the scoresheet himself in the secondhalf as UEA began to pull away from their opponents.

Nicoll made another superb stop from a corner before it was England’s turn.

His first goal was a spectacular effort from close-range into the right-hand corner of the goal, after a succession of UEA short corners.

Then, after City fired a couple of their own set-pieces wide, England netted his second to complete a good evening’s work for UEA. After the friendlies, men’s firsts captain Graham reflected: “They were two strong sides, I’m really pleased with the two wins.

“The freshers from last year in midfield were huge, dominating the games. They really matured last year in a tough league. They’re so confident on the ball and really control the game.

“It was great to have Hector [Moore], a returning senior, back as well.

“I’m really happy with the way everyone played over the two games.”

He added: “We’ve got everything we need to get straight back into the league we were relegated from last season.

“We were unlucky to get relegated last year. I’m keen to leave the club where I joined it.”

The men’s firsts carried this good form into their first East Men’s Division 2N match, prevailing 4-1 against Norwich Dragons’ third team.

Oldham got UEA off to the best possible start with a powerful strike which gave the visiting goalkeeper no chance.

England then made it 2-0 (left) and it could have been three when he agonisingly poked wide following a goalmouth scramble from a corner.

UEA continued to press and despite having the majority of possession conceded on the counter to go into half-time with only a onegoal cushion.

However, UEA were soon comfortable again. Midfielder Ben Thompson converted a cross for

3-1 and UEA saw a pair of corners saved as they piled on the pressure in the closing stages.

Defender Sam Green added some gloss to the scoreline with a fourth to seal the victory.

Elsewhere, the seconds started their league season with a 3-3 away draw against Norwich Dragons’ seconds, while the thirds won 5-0 away and the fourths lost by the same score at home, both to Norwich City teams.

Last weekend, the firsts’ kept up their winning run with another 4-1 victory away to Ipswich seconds.

UEA seconds were narrowly edged out 2-1 by Newmarket, with the thirds routing Felixtowe 10-0 at the Sportspark and the fourths winning 6-0 away from home at Norfolk Nomads.

The women enjoyed a full programme of home league fixtures to start their season, with several positive performances.

The fourth team put in a brave effort against Carrow seconds to begin proceedings at the Sportspark, however they were beaten 3-0.

UEA trailed 1-0 at the break, although it could have been more were it not for several unlucky shots from the visitors which snuck just wide and some great UEA defending, especially from short corners, including a superb block from Erin Kavanagh.

UEA’s goalkeeper Rosa Hirons was excellent in the second 35 minutes, including making a pointblank save to keep her side in the game, but she was unable to prevent a goal soon after the restart and another midway through the half as Carrow continued to enjoy the majority of possession.

The firsts fared no better, also going down to a 3-0 loss against Norwich Dragons thirds, despite good work in defence by Emily Sanderberg and some fluid attacking play through midfield.

The ladies thirds lost 2-1 to Loddon seconds, with Niamh Healy scoring a consolation for UEA, but there was success for the seconds, who beat Pelicans seconds 3-1 to make it after they started their league campaign early with a 5-3 away win at Harleston Magpies fourth side the previous week.

Last week, the firsts picked up their first point courtesy of a 2-2 draw away to Dereham seconds.

The thirds also got a point on the board with a 2-2 home draw against Pelicans thirds.

The seconds couldn’t extend their winning run, however, losing to Loddon’s first team, and the fourths will have to wait for their first points of the season after being edged out 2-1 by Pelicans’ fourth side.

Continued on Page 23