Fancy a pick-me-up? Take the Drugs & Alcohol Survey at concrete-online.co.uk/drugs UEA’s Student Newspaper Issue 276 Free Tuesday 4 December
concrete-online.co.uk
@Concrete_UEA
/ConcreteNewspaper
ConcreteUEA
Gender neutral toilets at UEA University Amy Adams Editor-in-chief The Union of UEA Students has passed policy to introduce gender neutral toilets in Union House in order to accommodate for those who do not identify within the malefemale gender binary. The vote, which responds in part to findings of the Union’s recent LGBT+ survey, was approved by Union Council with 55 votes in favour and just 16 against (plus one abstention). Although the budget is yet to be confirmed, the plans for Union House have already been drafted. Firstly, the womens’ toilets on floor one near the advice centre will be converted into a campaigns store room, with the large mens’ facilities becoming gender neutral. This means that there will be cubicles much like in standard womens’ toilets, but available to everyone. Depending on funding the next stage will be the facilities in the Hive, which the Union plans to merge into one large gender-neutral space, removing the urinals from the mens’. The LCR toilets will remain segregated, so that students will have the option to use male, female or genderneutral facilities across the Hive/LCR area. The final stage will include the toilets in
the Blue and Red bars. However, as these are the most recently renovated, they are currently the lowest priority. Speaking to Concrete, LGBT+ officer Richard Laverick said: “It’s hoped that the new toilets will simply reaffirm our support of people who don’t define as male or female, or for those who are trans*. We don’t believe people have to fit into certain boxes, but encourage people to be who they are. “Gender neutral toilets have been successful in other unions such as Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield. They are shown to reduce bullying in certain areas too … But most importantly it’s about extending safe spaces to everyone regardless of gender. Once you’re in a cubicle, what does it matter who’s in the cubicle next door?” “It will be new at first, but people have and will adjust very easily. I am extremely pleased Council passed it with such a majority and such support, and I think it sends a strong message to everyone that regardless of your gender you are welcome at the Union of UEA Students.” The Union are also planning to lobby UEA to introduce the policy in other buildings across the University, such as the smaller facilities in the library. Laverick commented: “Why do they need to be male/female? It would be
Chris Teale easier for everyone if they were just gender neutral, it saves people walking up and down stairs!” Jon Gleek, Welfare officer at Sheffield SU, told Concrete that their facilities have been a huge success since their introduction last year. “Trans* and non-binary students have found them useful. There are male, female and gender-neutral options, so
SCIENCE&TECH P.15 CREATIVE WRITING V.20 TELEVISION
Philip Thomas there’s lots of choice, and they’re all as popular as each other. The LGBT committee recently ran a survey and had really positive results from students. And they’re also good on nights out, as people don’t have to break up friendship groups. It’s just been generally beneficial for everyone.” As yet, no date for work on the new facilities has been confirmed.
V.14-15 TRAVEL
Ga Chun Yau
IS FREE-RANGE REALLY FREE?
THEME: WINTER
THE PICK OF CHRISTMAS TV
CHINESE ICE FESTIVAL
P.16
2
concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk
Editorial
Editor-in-chief | Amy Adams concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Managing Editor | Chris Teale concrete.managingeditor@uea.ac.uk Online Editor | Harry Slater Deputy Online Editor | Luke Boobyer concrete.online@uea.ac.uk Advertising Manager | Kat Brook concrete.advertising@uea.ac.uk News | Philip Thomas & Sophie Witts concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Comment | Ciara Jack concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk Global | Robert Norris concrete.global@uea.ac.uk Features | Lauren Cope concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Environment | Tim Miller concrete.environment@uea.ac.uk Science & Tech | Rebecca Hardy concrete.science@uea.ac.uk Travel | Polly Grice concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk Lifestyle | Emma Williamson concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk Sport | Billy Sexton & Sam Tomkinson concrete.sport@hotmail.co.uk concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk Copy Editors | Sidonie Chaffer-Melly & Charlotte Cox concretecopyeditors@gmail.com Chief Photographers | Elizabeth Margereson & Chloe Hashemi concrete.photographers@uea.ac.uk Distribution Manager | Steph Gover
Issue 276
04/12/12
Contributors
News | Philip Thomas, Chris Teale, Amy Adams, Jack Brinded, Chloe Hashemi, Amy Cullen, Billy Sexton, Sofie Cacoyannis, Chris Thomson Comment | Tim Rose, Ciara Jack, Zoe Jones, Robert Staniforth, Elliot Wengler, Peter Sheehan, Simon Pook Global | Robert Norris Features | Michael Brown, Robert Norris, Chris Teale Environment | Benjamin Brown, Ella Gilbert Science & Tech | Suhailah Ali, Rebecca Hardy, Michael Bolton Travel | Jonathan Stuart, Joey Millar, Rachael Lum, Jessica Crisp Lifestyle | Emily-Claire Tucker, Maddy Hutt, Bex White, Alice Edwards, Sidonie Chaffer-Melly, Jasmin Chudasama, Lydia Clifton Sport | Billy Sexton, Sam Tomkinson, Matthew Hubbard, Will Farrell, Will Medlock Proofreaders | Charlotte Cox, Sidonie Chaffer-Melly, Caitlin Gray, Amy Osterloh, Jessica Crisp, Chris Teale, Harry Slater, Amy Adams, Matt Tidby, Rachael Lum Photographers | Robert Norris, Sam Royle, Rianna Hudson, Joey Millar, Zoe Jones, Jasmin Chudasama, Lydia Clifton, Alice Edwards, Whye Tchien Khor, Edd Smith, Chris Teale, Ga Chun Yau
Obituary: Juan Mazar Barnett 1975 – 2012 As an academically capable student of evolutionary biology and a warm and personable friend to many, it was with profound sadness that we learnt of Juan’s passing in November. He was a passionate, skillful and informed field ornithologist of his native South America and an active scholar, contributing greatly to the canon of work describing species taxonomy, distribution and behavior. This talent was recognized by several formal conservation institutions, garnering further respect during his brief career.
Contact Us Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593 466 www.concrete-online.co.uk www.concblog.wordpress.com Editorial inquiries / complaints concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk Got a story? concrete.news@uea.ac.uk
In his capacity as close friend he was generous and engaging; his magnificent vocal intolerance for knaves and fools was only surpassed by his unselfish counsel and loyal friendship afforded to mates. A big personality and quite unique character, his immortality is assured in the collective memory of the 2001 BIO cohort and anyone who was privileged enough to meet with his acquaintance. His beloved Fat Cat and BIO Café will be poorer places for his absence. Cheers Juan. R.I.P U.F.C.
Editorial
The Editor’s Column Well the weather outside is frightful. I’ll be honest with you, gentle readers, I tried for an embarrassingly long time to write this entire column out of Christmas song lyrics. It didn’t work. It may only be the first week of December, but it feels like the Yuletide season has been in full swing for far longer. The editorial staff have even taken to writing winter-themed haikus. If you too are looking to procrastinate during the final push towards deadlines, why not try filling out our drugs survey? The results will be published on 8
January, and we can’t do it without you. Last year 71% of you told us that alcohol had improved your time at UEA, while 85% had no regrets after taking illegal drugs. Head over to concrete-online. co.uk/drugs to give this year’s a whirl. Finally, have a fantastic holiday. It’s been a great year so far, and I’d like to thank everyone who wrote, read and edited the paper. Now go and pull on a festive jumper, and eat your weight in turkey. Merry Christmas! Amy Adams Editor-in-Chief
Letter to the Editor Dear Editor, I was interested to read your interview with Layla Dickerson, the Labour candidate in the Nelson ward by-election. I was especially interested in the fact that she did not mention her Green Party opponent, despite Nelson being a Greenheld ward. In Nelson ward the Green Party won over 60% of the vote at the last election and have fourteen seats on Norwich city council. This is a Green-Labour race – the other parties are nowhere. Our candidate, Andrew Boswell, has been working hard for residents in the ward for years as their County Councillor and I think he would do a fantastic job as a City Councillor, standing up for the many students who live in Nelson ward. I was also interested to see a candidate from the Labour Party mention tuition fee debt. From my perspective, as a first
year student paying £9,000 a year, I feel compelled to point out that it was Labour who introduced tuition fees in the first place. Only the Green Party want to abolish tuition fees completely, because we believe education is a right and not a privilege. If students want a Councillor who will stand up for students against the Tory-led government’s attacks, then they should vote Green. However, I do have one note of agreement with Layla Dickerson: it is important that students who live in Nelson ward apply for a postal vote via the Norwich City Council website. It doesn’t take very long, and it means you can get your voice heard in the running of our city. Regards, Elliot Folan Green Party candidate for University ward, County Council elections 2013
Tweet of the Week Adam Plom | @adamplom It must be great for @gregjames when he comes back to the LCR because they still play the same songs from when he studied here. #nochange
Concrete welcomes all letters and emails, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Letters should be addressed to the editor-in-chief, and include contact details. All emails should be sent to concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk. We will consider anonymous publication, and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. Anonymous article submissions are permitted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the newspaper. No part of this newspaper may be reproduced through any means without the express permission of the editor, Amy Adams. Published by UUEAS Concrete Society ©2012 Concrete BMc ISSN 1351-2773
News
04/12/12
Issue 276
concrete.news@uea.ac.uk
3
Fall in international applications
Union deficit reduced
University Chris Thomson News reporter
The Union of UEA Students have announced that the budget deficit has been reduced, and that while they have not quite met their targets for the year, there has been a definite improvement. As of the nine months ending 30 April 2012, the Union was at a deficit of £132,000. While this is not quite on target, it represents a significant improvement in the deficit from last year. While the Union expected to reduce the deficit to £15,000 in 2012/13, this has since been revised to £114,500 over the academic year. Some Union services on campus have seen a slight increase in sales for the six months ending 31 October 2012, representing an improvement as sales slowly increase. In particular, the Travel Shop and LCR ticket sales for club nights are both ahead of their targets, with the LCR ticket rep scheme being credited for the increase. The sale of gig tickets at the LCR continues to be well down on estimates, with only £168,159 sold. However, the costs of putting on gigs at the LCR has also been reduced at the same time. This means thtat
A UEA report reveals a worrying drop in international applications, alongside national reports of falling domestic applications since the Tuition fee hike this year. These worrying trends may be seen as a result of the Home secretary, Theresa May, tightening student visa regulation as part of a wider crackdown on immigration, citing abuse of student visas. The popular tier one student visa, which allows students to work in “highly skilled” roles, has now been closed to new students, whilst increased restrictions on tier 4 visas are also imminent, by raising barriers such as minimum language standards and limiting dependants an individual may bring with them to study. An Internal report for UEA notes: “[International] applications rose healthily until the tier 4 consultations in 2010, but since applications from some areas have dropped significantly.”
Considerable drops in applicants from the USA, down 17%, and Saudi Arabia and India, 26 & 30% respectively, reflect the UK as an increasingly undesirable place to study. The report suggests the considerable decline in Indian applications as a direct result of the removal of the tier one visa. Whilst there is more encouragement in the rise in Chinese applications, up 28%, making the overall decline seem less serious, there is concern that current trends pose serious risks on student diversity, and an over reliance on East Asian students to provide important international funding. Mark Barlow, the Universities’ Director of admissions commented: “Leaving China to one side, the overall pattern is cause for concern. Both English-speaking countries and western European universities offering courses in English are reducing our market share.’’ The news brings the coalition government’s higher education policy back into the spotlight, particularly as international students contribute £40 billion in revenues to the UK Economy.
University Chris Teale Managing editor
the figure stands at an underperformance of 49%, although figures from several gig nights throughout November are expected to improve this. Meanwhile, The Waterfront continues to bring in a steady stream of income, exceeding nearly all its targets in the same six-month period. The Union Food Outlet and Paper Shop have both missed their budget targets, with sales down by 6%. However, plans to merge the Union’s outlets into a so-called “mega-store” will begin during the Easter holidays. Under the plans, which are being funded by the University, the Accommodation Office will be relocated to Broadview Lodge, and it is hoped that combining all of the Union’s shopping outlets will help Will Gladman reduce their budget deficit further. The “megashop” is planned to officially open in September 2013, in time for the intake of new students. In response to the figures, the Union’s Finance Officer Joe Levell said: “The budget for the year shows a lessening of the deficit from last year. We are in a significantly better position than we were 12 months ago; with the planned development of the UFO, we hope to strengthen our commercial activity and build towards a more financially stable Union.”
New green residences planned University Sofie Cacoyannis News reporter UEA is planning to spend £12m on building a new, low energy student residence to meet the growing demand for student accommodation on campus. The state-of-the-art building will be part of a £58 million investment to commemorate its 50th anniversary in 2013. An application for full planning permission is to be submitted early January 2013 and if successful, work is scheduled to take place between June 2013 until September 2014. During the construction, a new route will be devised onto campus for works traffic (pending permission is given by the highways authority and planning department). The new halls of residence will be situated on the eastern edge of campus, located between Colman and Britten Houses and Orwell Close. The “U” shaped building will be 5-7 stories high and consist of 231 bed spaces with en-suite facilities and a shared kitchen, divided into flats of 8-12 people. Two senior resident studio flats will be situated on the 6th floor. There will also be a roof-top plant space and a multi-purpose social space on the ground
floor. The landscape within the courtyard of the building will consist of native birch and scots pine trees, under-planted with ground cover shrubs and bulbs to provide a social space to be enjoyed by students throughout the day. UEA vice-chancellor Professor Edward Acton said: “We pride ourselves on our attractive campus and have led the way in commissioning buildings that are both architecturally significant and environmentally sustainable.” The
new halls of residence will help towards UEA’s aim to promote Norwich’s role as a “learning city”. Architects are designing the building to be highly insulated and will monitor its energy consumption; the university will be seeking a BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) “Excellent” accreditation. A tree survey and ecological assessment is being undertaken as part of the planning process. All views on the plan will be taken
into account as part of the “Statement of Community Involvement” section of the application, to be submitted in 2013. Electronic copies of the relevant feedback form can be found at www.uea.ac.uk/ estates. Alternatively, comments can be sent to uearesconstruction@bidwells. co.uk. More information can be found at www. uea.ac.uk/estates/newstudentresidence. The public consultation runs until 5pm on Philip Thomas 14 December.
4
concrete.news@uea.ac.uk
Issue 276
04/12/12
Students disillusioned with NUS after national demo National Jack Brinded News reporter
Thousands of students gathered in London on 21 November to march against the coalition’s policies on education cuts and tuition fees. An estimated 4,000 students turned out to vocalise their anger with the government, but the president of the National Union of Students, Liam Burns, also came under fire. Protestors heavily criticised the route of the demonstration, which passed Parliament before ending south of the River Thames, near the Oval cricket ground in Kennington. The majority of protestors attempted to remain outside Parliament but were moved on by officials. Stewards in the crowd were overheard referring to those encouraging others as “thugs”. Bemused and annoyed by the route, only 400 students continued to the finishing point. Norwich was represented well at the demonstration, with students from UEA and nearby colleges making their way to the capital. By the end, however, a division between the NUS and its members was apparent.
One disenchanted tweeter, @LookLeftNorwich, said: “‘this is what democracy looks like.’ I assume that doesn’t refer to the NUS stifling #demo2012 with a rainy walk to Surrey!” Chanting at the protest echoed this view: “Liam Burns, shame on you, where the fuck you brought us too?” When Burns took to the stage to speak he was met with more verbal abuse and pelted with eggs and fruit, and eventually forced off by protestors. Alex Etches, a campaigner at the closing rally, said: “Burns was so arrogant, even the people who disagreed with storming the stage were turning against him. I disagreed with the tactic, but I can’t condemn it. Someone needed to tell him to sod off to his safe Labour seat - clearly no one wants him here.” In a statement after the protest Liam Burns appeared unconcerned by hecklers: “It was just a bit of a distraction. I’m not going to get particularly bogged down by a few people who want to shout”. Summarising the day, he said: “It was an amazing day. Thank you to everyone that came out to march on the streets and all others that supported online”. Commenting on the route, Union of UEA Students Academic officer Josh Bowker said: “The NUS taking us to a cricket ground wasn’t a great idea. People felt we should be outside Parliament because that’s where decisions are made, not soggy, irrelevant fields.” When asked about the increasing pressure the NUS leadership faced, he responded: “A lot of people are unhappy about the way the NUS planned the route. They ignored a huge petition from their members to change the route. They have to be held democratically accountable by their members now.”
News
Mo ho ho
Chloe Hashemi University Chloe Hashemi News reporter UEA sports teams and societies joined together to raise money for Movember, including volleyball and American football. The month-long campaign to raise awareness for prostate cancer and associated male cancer charities has grown in popularity over the past two years. The aim being to “change the face of men’s health.” Established in 2004 and now in its eighth year of existence, the event sees participants sponsored to grow moustaches. The online forum Movember & Sons has enabled participants from across the country to document their progress and fundraising efforts. The United Kingdom
stood in second place on the global leaderboard, having raised £17,094,506. UEA Volleyball has raised £633 so far. Alec Kent, team captain of the UEA MoVolleyball group said: “There is no way I could have ever anticipated this amount of support for us. The guys and girls have done mo-tastically well!” Aside from the lighthearted team motto “to prove moustaches work!”, the campaign has a serious message and is hugely successful in raising both money and awareness. James Vater, President of UEA Volleyball club said: “I expected to raise £50 to £100, nowhere near this amount!” The Union of UEA students are also involved, belonging to the network Big Moustache on Campus. So far they have raised £329. To support the cause or to find out more, visit: uk.movember.com.
The perils of payday loans National Amy Cullen News reporter Payday lenders have been slammed for targeting students by offering them hasty money-lending options. In some circumstances, students who cannot make the repayments find themselves in grave financial trouble with no viable means of escape. In response, the Office of Fair Trading launched a review on payday lenders in February this year, recently deciding that the Financial Conduct Authority should have the power to cap the annual percentage rate (APR) and remedy what
has been regarded as usury. Currently the law in the United Kingdom only requires lenders to state the APR which is not restricted to any percentage. Payday loans are small advances of money that financially assist a borrower until their next pay day. A payday loan can be secured in less than 20 minutes online provided you have a bank account and proof of address, which is appealing to students or low income earners. Loans are typically about £100 with a repayment term of anything up to one month. Frequent applications for loans or regular defaults on existing loans can result in debts of thousands of pounds. The APR is an accumulation of the
initial interest rate and any additional fees the lender incurs in the course of the loan. APR is typically higher than the interest rate as it operates to balance the interest rate and fees. The APR may fluctuate to coincide with prevailing rates or where the borrower violates a term of the loan agreement. Over the course of a loan some rates have totalled as much as 4,000%. Some fees may not be included in the advertised APR so it is important for a borrower to make further inquiries in order to determine exactly what they are expected to repay so as to avoid debts. For free and independent advice, visit moneyadviceservice.org.uk.
News
04/12/12
Issue 276
concrete.news@uea.ac.uk
5
Union by-elections: results breakdown Lobbying for University Philip Thomas News editor A new Ethnic Minorities officer and four NUS delegates have been elected in the Union of UEA Students by-elections. Four candidates stood in the byelection for the position of Ethnic Minorities officer, which had a turnout of 163. Hussam Hussein was victorious with 95 first preference votes, equating to a 58% majority. The Ethnic Minorities officer represents students who self-identify as belonging to an ethnic minority. Meanwhile seven candidates stood for the four NUS delegate positions. The NUS delegates represent UUEAS at the National Union of Students National Conference, where they debate and vote on NUS policy.
Additionally, NUS delegates elect the National Exectutive Committee. The successful candidates are Richard Laverick, Sam Clark, Valerie Colette Larson and Emily-Claire Tucker. Speaking to Concrete, Richard Laverick, who is also LGBT+ officer, said: “I was extremely pleased to be elected as one of the Union’s delegate to the NUS Conference in April. “I am keen to listen to student’s views, especially on national issues which I can raise at the Conference. As delegates we have to vote following our Unions principles and policies, which for me are the basic principles of ethics, equality and fairness. “Any student can email me before the conference with any issues they’d like to raise at union.lgbt@uea.ac.uk.”
Ethnic minorities officer Elected: Hussam Hussein First preference votes: 95 Turnout: 163
NUS delegates Elected: Richard Laverick
later deadlines University Billy Sexton News reporter
Interview: David Miliband
The Union of UEA Students is planning to lobby the University to reinstate the 23:59 deadline for coursework submissions. Union Council passed a decision that mandated the Union officers to lobby for the deadline to be put back in place, as it was for the spring semester last academic year. Academic officer Josh Bowker believes that the current 3pm deadline “discriminates against students with children, and students that work.” Although Bowker admitted that the University will “most likely decline” the 23:59 deadline, he is hopeful that the Union can get the deadline “pushed back to a more reasonable time, making it fairer for all students.”
University Philip Thomas News editor
Make Me Laugh
Labour MP and former foreign secretary David Miliband visited Norwich and UEA on Tuesday 20 November, during which he partook in a question and answer session with students. Concrete interviewed Mr Miliband on employment, foreign affairs and the next general election. David Miliband served as foreign secretary between 2007 and 2010, having previously been environment secretary and minister of state for communities and local government. He was accompanied by the Labour parliamentary candidate for Norwich North, Jessica Asoto, alongside former home secretary and visiting politics professor Charles Clarke. Mr Miliband was asked about his views on pay equality, in addition to his support of the living wage. He explained: “The argument for the living wage is
partly that, pay inequality in the public and private sector is a problem. It is a very powerful argument. Movement for Change is an organisation I created, and is working with Labour students around the country to ensure the living wage is paid to cleaning and catering staff on university campuses. “I hope it will come to UEA as well, I think they’ve got policy in that direction and there’s really good leadership from the university authorities. Pay equity refers to the gender pay gap, and that’s an important issue to address as well.” Ed Miliband implied in a speech that he would reduce tuition fees to £6000 (from £9000). David Miliband was asked what the Labour party would do to create graduate jobs, and ensure that higher education is a viable and economical option despite the debt students incur. He referred to the McKinsey study which suggested the developed world would “suffer a shortage of skilled workers in
First preference votes: 49
Elected: Sam Clark
First preference votes: 45
Elected: Valerie Colette Larson First preference votes: 38
Elected: Emily-Claire Tucker First preference votes: 35 Turnout: 254
2020, and a glut of unskilled workers. Government doesn’t produce jobs, but all of the economics shows it’s skilled people that we need.” Drawing on Mr. Miliband’s foreign affairs experience, he was next asked for his opinion on government diplomacy in the Middle East, particularly with regards to the increasingly volatile conflicts in Syria and the Gaza strip. Speaking on the conflict between Israel and Hamas he stated that “the current government have focused on the short-term. I would draw a distinction between the proximate cause (the missile offensive), and the deeper cause that the festering wound of Gaza has just been left. And until you address it, you’re into a situation where every three or four years hundreds of people get killed, but to not particular avail. “My differences with the current government on foreign policy are twofold. I think their approach to the European Union is dangerous, and secondly their view that commercial diplomacy can be privileged over all other aspects of diplomacy is disguised if you’re a member of the UN Security Council.” David Miliband spoke confidently about Labour’s prospects at the next general election, saying that “if Labour can’t win in places like Norwich North, it won’t be forming the government.”
To read the full interview with David Miliband in full, go to www.concreteonline.co.uk/davidChris Teale
miliband-interview
University Chris Teale Managing editor The School of Film, Television and Media Studies are to launch a three-year research project into the creativity and practices of the British television comedy industry. The study, called Make Me Laugh, has been approved after receiving a grant of £300,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and will be led by Dr. Brett Mills as they explore the working practices of industry professionals by conducting a number of interviews. It also maps the development of television comedy projects to show their progression from concept through to broadcast. Dr. Mills said: “Comedy is a multi-million pound industry in the UK. Last year the main public broadcasting channels spent in the region of £140m on comedy output and showed almost 2,500 hours of comedy programming. “What we are doing is looking in detail at the whole TV comedy industry – from writers, directors and producers to high level commissioners, and their relationships within the industry structure.“ Miranda writer Richard Hurst, The Office producer Ash Atalla, Trollied creator Paul Doolan and head of Sky comedy commissioning Lucy Lumsden will be giving their views on the industry. The project will also look at how creative processes contribute towards understandings of the television comedy industry, and comes as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport undertakes an inquiry into support for creative industry.
Comment
04/12/12
Issue 276
concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk
7
A European referendum? EU must be joking Tim Rose Comment writer As if the Tories were not already making a concerted enough effort to lose the next election by subjecting Britain to a double-dip recession and an incompetent government, there is now even talk of allying with a group who in David Cameron’s own words, are mostly “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists”. The suggestion of an electoral pact with UKIP on the condition of holding a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, is extremely worrying due to the potential damage it could cause Britain. Support for an EU referendum has up to now largely come from UKIP and the Europhobic media, but it has increasingly been embraced by sections of the Conservative Party. More worryingly, increasing numbers of people in the Labour Party are warming to the idea of a referendum as a cynical ploy to split the Tories. This is extremely risky. It could very easily backfire upon them, and divert attention away from far more important issues, such as Britain’s current economic problems. One fundamental issue with holding
any EU referendum is that we have already had one. In 1975 the British public voted overwhelmingly in favour of membership. Although opponents will point out that the EU has changed greatly since then, so have other international organisations. However there do not presently appear
to be any calls for referendums on our membership of Nato or the UN. The widespread Europhobia in Britain tends to be a result of media misinformation and a lack of awareness of the EU’s achievements. The EU has overseen the longest period of peace
in Western European history. The level of prosperity now enjoyed by most Europeans is unprecedented. EU Citizens now live in democracies without fear of torture or persecution for their beliefs. Freedom of movement and labour has brought untold benefits to millions of people. The fact that so many students at UEA are from European countries, and many others are able to study abroad through the Erasmus programme, is entirely down to the EU. Yet some people who claim to be “patriots” would prefer Britain not to have any of this. In an increasingly multi-polar world, it is only through the EU that Britain can continue to maintain its previous levels of power and influence. If Britain fully engaged with the EU, we would be a major player alongside France and Germany. Instead Britain languishes on the sidelines, which has not been helped by David Cameron’s recent actions to oppose any increase in the EU budget. Talk of exiting the EU will only make this isolation worse and risks further destabilising the Eurozone. The EU is far stronger with Britain in it, and Britain is far stronger as a part of the EU. Long may this remain the case.
Christmas for Concrete Comment Ciara Jack Comment editor
It’s our last issue of the semester, and so it’s time for me to put my hand on my hip, roll my eyes, and go “Oh, and what a semester it’s been.” Comment isn’t too festively themed, with only one Christmas-based article - current affairs don’t really occur with a theme. Although it would have been handy for Cameron to have a gaffe involving a sledge. I imagine in the safety of his own home, Boris might have become hassled by some tinsel. There were a few things we didn’t summarise in the paper: we recently had the police commissioner election, which people turned up in their thousands to ignore. The truth is, people aren’t entirely sure which political party will work in their favour with regards to local crime. Even the most irritable curtain-twitcher who scorns “youths,” has no real idea which
party will get the job done. Unless UKIP came out and explicitly said they were going to use “petrol, heavy weaponry and any means necessary to stop unruly citizens who don’t use local bottle banks properly,” the pros and cons of each party were largely unknown to the public. Ed Miliband also delivered his speech at the CBI conference. Not only did he
throw in some charismatically delivered jokes, causing a few waves of chesty laughs, he gave a bold argument in favour of staying part of the 27 member-state bloc of the EU, painting the dream-like image, fitting for satirical illustration, of Britain sleep-walking out of membership. Labour is still trying to find some resolution after the end of the last Blair/
Brown New Labour government. Labour certainly isn’t lurching to the left, but it’s making a promising step to the left of centre. I would at this point say something about the election in America - but we’ve had a picture of Obama, or Romney, in almost every single Comment section this semester. We love a bit of Obama. He’s just so photogenic, a Comment editor’s dream. However, once the results of the election had come through, and I (as a half-American) breathed a massive sigh of relief, I decided to run a full-page feature. Just as a “There. That’s enough Obama and Romney now.” But they’ll probably be back. So long as Obama continues to have good cheek-bones and Romney is permitted to speak publicly, they’ll be back. Finally, I’d like to say a massive thank you to my writers who stop me from having a panic attack every time my deadline looms every fortnight. And so to my writers and readers, I’m going to be slushy (snow pun.) and wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
8
concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk
Issue 276
06/12/12
Comment
No ifs, no buts, the NUS are nuts Zoe Jones Comment writer At 5:30am on 21 November, I woke up, camera in hand, probably still slightly drunk and somehow prepared to venture to London for the 2012 NUS demonstration. This was my first protest and it’s fair to say I was excited, borderline bloodthirsty for action. I was more than willing to shout “just throw that brick again mate, I missed it” solely for exciting footage. On receiving my “In case of arrest …” card, which to my immature mind was essentially the real life version of “get out of jail free”, I was expecting riots and a Bafta for my exaggerated report. The 2010 NUS demonstration was something to behold: 52,000 strong, the anger was rife, with crowds rampaging through London causing havoc, chanting phrases such as “No ifs, no buts, no education cuts”. This time, although the same chants remained, the crowd did not; numbers did not even reach 10,000. They dwindled even further as the day bored on, so much so that by the end, there were only a few hundred left for the final speeches. As the weather dampened so
did the spirits, with the majority taking refuge in nearby pubs and cafes. The day began optimistically; the crowds were motivated but calm. Apart from a couple of fleeting but lazy runs at the police that were quickly averted, it was soon evident that despite the initial
empowerment and fusion of anger, there wasn’t enough not to be washed away by the weather. By the end, people were simply fed up at what seemed to be a poorly organised, half-hearted protest for their right to free education. So where was the anger channelled,
Zoe Jones
after the need to express it quickly faded into miserable muddy shoes? Why, to the demo organisers of course! After being herded to Kennington Park, president of the NUS Liam Burns was heckled to the point where he couldn’t be heard over the chants of “NUS, shame on you, where the fuck have you brought us to?” and was then pelted with eggs and, according to the Guardian, “a satsuma”. The hecklers were so enraged that they resorted to throwing bits of their packed lunch. Overall, the event wasn’t wholly successful and some weren’t even entirely sure what they were there for. Half the protestors were protesting against tuition fees, others for the liberation of Gaza and a select few were still irritable about the pasty tax. All right, maybe that was just me. So why was the 2010 demonstration so much more of an event than this one? Was the protest really that poorly organised? Have British students lost faith in the effectiveness of a demonstration; decided that their voices can’t in fact be heard? It may be the case that the government cannot be swayed and that we are stuck with neglected education. I think so – and this is a real shame.
Christmas: humbug to over-hype Robert Staniforth Comment writer “Deck the halls with bells of holly,” for the season to be jolly has once again come to visit. But, for some, the commercialisation of the festive period is making the “12 Days of Christmas” the “120 Days of Christmas and its surrounding Sales.” Appalling metaphor and excessive exaggeration aside, there are some very different opinions on when it all should start, with answers including the reasonable “when I want it to” and “December”, and the commercially motivated “when I see the Coca Cola truck” or “when the adverts begin on TV”. Many even ban Christmas songs until December, but it always happens; they sneak onto the radio late November, and at least one retailer has Christmas gifts on sale in September or October. Even
the people that don’t care when it starts care if it starts that early! But, when it inevitably does, the Nativity must go on. Indeed, Christmas is now very commercialised. Every year, shops offer to help you plan and buy everything you need, and much more, for “a Christmas to remember”, often before you would normally even think about it. We always
assume that “the best value gifts” really do exist, so we rush to buy it all, hoping the items are on some as-yet-unwritten wish list. Even Santa’s green and black wardrobe was affected, only adopting red and white after a Coca Cola advert campaign. Sometimes, however, I can’t help but feel a bit annoyed about it all. It’s
the inevitable feeling you can get when something is built up for a couple of months: the feeling that it may all end up a farce, let down by its own hype. Indeed, while I no longer expect the same amazing gifts I received as a 10 year old (the glory days), I genuinely feel sorry for those children that fall victim to the excessive amounts of advertising around now. The poor souls, seeing all the gifts that they could ask Santa for. But then what if they don’t receive their next generation iPod? It would make Christmas just a bit rubbish, wouldn’t it? We live in a commercially driven society. Adverts are an expected part of life, and I don’t mind that, but we are barraged by these humbugging adverts too early and too frequently. There needs to be a line that advertisers cannot cross, say late November. Otherwise Christmas will become a farce, shopping will descend to chaos, and the world will end because we stopped believing in the Gruffalo. We want a decent Christmas, but there are other things to think about in October and November, like Halloween, and Bonfire Night - leave Christmas out of it!
Comment
04/12/12
The thick of Leveson Elliot Wengler Comment writer The fourth series of The Thick of It showed us characters lying and doing shambolic, unethical things as a part of their day-today routines. It built up to a parody of the Leveson Inquiry, to which they lied, but we knew which bits were lies and why they’d lied. Lord Justice Leveson then finally released his real-world report last Thursday. The weeks of cleverly constructed and fascinating testimonies to the inquiry, and it all comes down to this document, which is 1,897 pages long. The main points were that the Press Complaints Commission failed to curb the antics of the press properly, and that it wasn’t properly prepared to do so. It also included a call for the cosy press-politician relationship to end. The politicians are now in a position to make this the key parliamentary debate. Everyone is worried about limiting press freedom. Charlotte Church assessed this on Question Time on that evening, saying: “it has not been a free press, but a corporate press”. The press has, for too long, existed for its own
interests and perpetuating its own power. The whole saga had a worrying amount of political and headlinegrabbing testimonies instead of constructive criticism. Gordon Brown spent his testimony making accusations that he never had the guts to do as prime minister. Murdoch decided to contradict what others were saying and forget about his own antics in relation to key issues. David Cameron spoke about how the relationship with the press was the status quo. It wasn’t a free and open inquiry, it was a free-for-all inquiry; a one-off chance for a peculiar style of political point scoring. Given that David Cameron accepted that the cosy press-politician relationship must end, I’m not sure what he has to gain by not accepting the report in full. It asks for reasonable powers to create more ethical and better enforced contracts with the press, and an independent Ofcom-style body. Surely, it is no longer in Cameron’s interests to be trying to appease the Mail? It’s all a bit suspicious still. The Thick of It showed more frustrated, but more aware and honest politicians in their post-inquiry world. It seems that the coalition’s more willing to split on this and make it a huge issue for conflict and point-scoring. The battle for a fairer press has only just begun - but surely it can’t get any uglier?
Issue 276
concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk
9
Another Euro headache Peter Sheehan Comment writer One trillion euros is a great deal of money. Understandably, how it should be spent has the potential to be a matter of considerable controversy. Last week, the European Union demonstrated just how considerable that really is: the summit to agree spending for the next seven years collapsed without even a whisper of a deal. Another is scheduled for the New Year, but many expect that, yet again, it will lead to nothing. Of late, it seems that negotiations have not been entered into with the sense of commonality that the postwar architects of the union envisaged. Perhaps they were too optimistic. It appears that national interest still looms large in the minds of prime ministers and presidents, and that the reactions of national electorates are second-guessed almost hourly. Given the difficult background of these talks, that is not altogether surprising. However, it makes the need for a sensible deal all the more pressing: Europe cannot afford more financial uncertainty.
For once, David Cameron’s position makes a certain sense. In pressing for spending cuts, the British delegation points out that the European Commission would do well to take a dose of its own medicine. If the Greeks and the Italians can work until the age of 68, surely it would not kill eurocrats to do the same. And perhaps the European taxpayer can do without projects such as the €20m Parliamentarium visitors’ centre. The fact that the Germans, Dutch and Scandinavians took a similar line shows that we may not be as isolated as some would like to believe. The trouble is, every country has its own pet project. The UK takes discussion of Thatcher’s rebate rather personally, while threats to agricultural subsidies tend to get the French into a right tizzy about catastrophic effects on their artichoke farmers or some such. In a union of twenty-seven countries, cutting anything is bound to upset someone. The EU needs something of a reawakening. It needs to rediscover its purpose. That it won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize demonstrates that history may yet be kind, but in the current round of talks we are struggling to see the wood for the trees. In future, switching focus from the petty to the more profound would do a battered continent the power of good.
No female bishops, no equality Simon Pook Comment writer In a move that seemed calculated to disappoint almost everybody in the country, the Synod of the Church of England recently voted against a proposal to begin the introduction of female bishops to the organisation, and in doing so blocked the legislation from being considered in its current form until 2015. The vote was close, being defeated by only six votes in one of the three houses of the Synod. This will come as little comfort to the supporters of the proposal, despite the Archbishop of York’s assertion that the rejection was more to the specifics of the legislation itself than to the general idea. The most galling part of this defeat becomes evident when you consider the fact that the Church of England is
not an organisation that exists entirely separate to our democracy. If it were simply an organised group of religious people then it might be a less bitter pill to swallow - certainly a step backwards for equality in this country but less an issue of democratic power than one of an individual organisation’s attitude to women.
“This is not a special-interest feminist issue; it is a mainstream one that is fundamental to equality in our democracy.” The Church of England, however, does not stand apart from our democratic process. It makes up a significant proportion of the House of Lords, and the decision to refuse women the right to become bishops and thus progress through the hierarchy of the Church impacts not merely on women within the organisation but on the entirety of
our democracy. The House of Lords is already somewhat of a democratic black hole, due to the way its members are appointed instead of being elected. The fact that some of its peers are chosen from an organisation that appears to have such a backwards view on women’s rights is a big problem for our society. This is not a special-interest feminist issue; it is a mainstream one that is fundamental to equality in our democracy. The Church of England, in voting against the introduction of female bishops, has refused to lower another barrier that blocks women from taking their rightful place in our democratic process. The Archbishop of Canterbury remarked that the Church has “lost credibility” after this decision, which is entirely true. The problem here is that the Church is an intrinsic part of the chambers of our government, and in a wider sense a representation of our society. In losing their own credibility the Church also erodes the credibility of our entire democratic process, and perhaps also of the country itself.
10
concrete.global@uea.ac.uk
Issue 276
04/12/12
Global
Around the world at Christmas time Robert Norris Global editor For most people in the UK, 25 December is primarily a day to give and receive presents, followed by the traditional Christmas dinner and an evening spent exhausted and watching television. However, in other parts of the world Christmas is celebrated in very different ways, both as a religious and a commercial holiday. In Japan, Christmas is not a national holiday, but is still celebrated as homes, shops and streets are often lit up with all kinds of Christmas lights and decorations. There are some major differences between a Japanese and a British Christmas; the first being that Christmas in Japan is largely associated with young couples. Couples, roughly between the ages of 15 to 25, will give each other a present and commonly spend the day together. Some people will have a Christmas party or go
to a karaoke bar. The traditional Christmas dinner in Japan is a little different too, with most families ordering a take-out from KFC as opposed to eating turkey. Christmas cake is commonly consumed in Japan on 24 December and is usually a strawberry shortcake with lashings of whipped cream and fruit on top. In most African countries, Christmas is not nearly as commercialised as it is in Britain. Christians in countries such as Ghana and South Africa will traditionally sing carols and attend church throughout the day. In the east African states, goats are commonly bought and prepared for Christmas dinner. In South Africa families will commonly travel to the packed beaches and have a Christmas day barbeque, or a braai as it is commonly known. There are some parts of the Middle East where Christmas is celebrated, such as Bethlehem. Worshippers from all over the world will traditionally attend the
Christmas Eve mass in the Church of the Nativity, believed to be built over the place where Jesus Christ was born. In Lebanon, Christmas is a popular festival where people will traditionally plant seeds in cotton wool. They’ll water the seeds every day until Christmas when they will have grown roughly six inches in height. The shoots are then used to decorate the manger in homemade nativity scenes. Christmas is also celebrated in a number of different ways in Europe. In Spain, 25 December is a national holiday, but it is a calm day with most families going for walks and sharing a large meal together. It’s on 6 January, traditionally known as the Feast of the Epiphany, when people in Spain will have parties and children will traditionally receive gifts. This is the day that the Three Kings supposedly arrived in Bethlehem. Children in Spain will leave their shoes outside their doors which will be filled
with presents the next day. In Norway, it’s not Father Christmas who traditionally hands out presents for children, but the Julenisse. The Julenisse is just one of many nisse in Norwegian folk culture. Nisse are small gnome or elf like creatures that all have different personalities and identities. On Christmas Eve, families should be sure to leave out an extra-large portion of porridge for the Fjøsnisse, a nisse that supposedly takes care of animals on a farm, but likes to play tricks on people unless they leave him food. Nisse are an important part of Norwegian culture all year round, with a number of toys and confectionaries being made out of their appearance. To learn more about Christmas from another culture’s perspective, many of the different cultural societies at UEA will be holding Christmas parties or meals at the end of term and will be happy to talk about the festive season in their home countries.
Edd Smith
Diwali celebrations brighten up UEA campus Robert Norris Global editor On Monday 19 November, fireworks lit up the night sky over campus in celebration of Diwali, one of the most important holidays in the Hindu calendar. Diwali, which took place officially on 13 November this year, was celebrated in style at UEA with both the Indian Society and Hindu Society coming together to create an unforgettable night. The LCR was an explosion of colour with a variety of different decorations and bright clothing worn by the attendees. The performances throughout the night added to this, with each of the dancers wearing a large grin during their acts. The first two sets of performers to come on stage performed classic and modern Bollywood dances. Later in the night, the UEA Indian Dance Squad performed their Bhangra Beats, a mix of
classic bhangra, one of many different forms of Indian dancing, with modern dancing. Each of the dance acts were incredibly talented, but that wasn’t all that was on offer throughout the night. Prenin Philippiah, president of the Indian Society, then showed off his vocal talents along with another singer later on in the night. The origins of Diwali were also explained throughout the evening by the hosts. Diwali roughly translates into English as “The Festival of Light”. The Times of India claims that in modern times the festival stands for, “a reaffirmation of hope, a renewed commitment to friendship and goodwill, and a religiously sanctioned celebration of the simple - and some not so simple - joys of life.” The event included a three-course Indian meal and a disco at the end of the night, with professional DJ. One of the night’s highlights was of course the
fireworks, a necessity for the modern celebration of Diwali. They were set off on campus near the lake, with attendees being led out of the LCR by people playing the dhol, a double headed drum, as though taking part in a procession. The Diwali Diya was a sold-out event, attracting students not just from an Indian or Hindu background, but from a number of different cultures too. One of the aims of the event was to promote a cross cultural interest in Diwali, with students from any nationality and faith being invited to the event. The festival was also one of the first events to promote UEA’s Go Global Year. The Go Global Year is a programme being developed by the International Student Advisory Team (ISAT) to help promote the different cultural events and groups at UEA; whether they are run by the University itself or through student organisations such as the Indian and
Hindu societies. One way that the ISAT is helping to promote UEA’s diverse culture is through the construction of the online Go Global calendar. Any events or programs held at the university which involve promoting a different culture in any way are welcome to be placed on the calendar. The calendar will help these events gain wider exposure and allow ISAT to record the many different cultural events taking place. If events such as Diwali Diya continue to be a success, the Indian Society and ISAT hope that it will not only promote diversity at UEA, but it will also bring new cultures into the university, as students from within the UK and abroad become increasingly aware of UEA’s global reputation. There is no doubt that Diwali Diya was a success, and is sure to continue to be one in future years.
Features UEA in (near) space 04/12/12
Issue 276
concrete.features@uea.ac.uk
Features writer Michael Brown follows UEA’s Balloon Launch and Exploration Analysis Team on their latest endeavour
While the majority of students were still fast asleep, nursing hangovers from the Friday night before, an old blue Renault camper van carrying a high altitude helium balloon and three PhD students set off down the A47 for adventure before sunrise. Eyes fixed forward, onboard computers booted up; the Bleat (Balloon Launch and Exploration Analysis Team) explorers ignored the early morning temperatures in a way that only scientists can. The clock approached 9:00am. T-minus two hours to launch time. Back at UEA ground control, meteorologist Honza Chylík prepared to monitor the weather conditions and manage communications to the second chase vehicle. Conditions were frosty and overcast but wind speeds were low. The van kept moving. Every possible preparation was complete; all the team could do was wait. The first ever UEA weather balloon launch and recovery was going ahead. Let’s wind the clock back several months to the moment when the inquisitive thoughts of astro-biologist Andrew Rushby accidentally spilt out during happy hour one evening in May: “What is actually stopping us from launching a balloon into near space?” Fortunately, enough alcohol had been consumed by his fellow students to actually give the idea some serious thought. “Maybe we could send up a camera to get some HD footage of the atmosphere?” Conversations surrounding atmospheric dynamics, air control permission and paperwork all followed; luckily, at the time, the team hadn’t realized the amount of duct tape involved, otherwise they may well have turned back.
“The group’s multidisciplinary and multinational dynamic, driven by a sense of independently-sourced adventure, is a great example of the opportunities provided by this university.” To launch a weather balloon is pretty easy. The weather ballooning community ranges from professional scientific teams to amateur enthusiasts and primary school projects. Trying to recover any attached instruments is where the difficulty lies. For Bleat’s launch, the overall rig was estimated to reach a height of 34,000 metres. At this height, around four times the height of Mount Everest, temperatures can reach -80 degrees and the decreased air pressure causes the balloon to expand to eight metres in diameter and burst. The attached
Sam Royle
instruments, which included a “space box” containing camera equipment, descend via parachute. The most important attachment, called a radiosonde, is designed to record temperature, pressure and humidity by sending these data sets back to sensors on the ground via radio. The radiosonde, a generous donation from the team’s “responsible adult” Roland Von Glasgow (UEA researcher) also allowed for realtime mapping of the balloons route. In an interview a few days before the launch, Concrete asked Bleat what it had taken for the project to come together, and the problems they encountered. “The team has atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, oceanographers, geologists - a good coverage from within the ENV department really … also the team is very international, we have French, German and Czech members, and also a northerner.” Chief engineer Sam Royle is the northerner of whom they speak, who also highlighted the importance of the group’s supporters. “Someone actually pointed out a design flaw on our website … the space box now has a vent made out of a hypodermic syringe - if we hadn’t added this the box could have exploded!” Geography was also one of the
main problems. Tactical Officer Luke Surl commented: “Many atmospheric scientists face the same experimental problem, Norfolk is the edge of civilisation … We knew the balloon would travel east from computer simulations, but we couldn’t really predict how far north or south.” The computer simulation software in question was developed by Cambridge University and available for free. The team also mentioned that “the UEA lab techs are essential for any experiment; it would have been significantly more difficult without them.” The team’s attitude and camaraderie was instantly infectious. Although jokes about crashing aeroplanes and sea landings implied a slight degree of pessimism, it was obvious that the team had worked hard, hopeful that luck will reward their efforts. On Saturday 1 December, at 11am Bleat successfully launched the first UEA advanced tracking technology weather balloon. The earlier overcast weather gave way to blue skies, and the balloon began to ascend at eight metres per second. As excitement and triumph gripped the team’s Twitter feed, the chase began. The launch team had to keep moving to keep track of the radiosonde signal. The second chase team was directed by ground control to the M11, with the predicted landing zone north of Welwyn Garden City. After an hour and a half of flight, there is confirmation of “balloon burst” over Northampton. The last GPS reading occurred over Oaklands Forest, giving the chase teams a possible 10km search radius. The teams spent the remaining daylight hours walking through a wood north of Welwyn, searching and asking dog walkers for sightings of UFOs, receiving some odd looks in the process. Unfortunately the team did not recover the space box. “Hopefully someone will stumble across it - we are currently contacting local media outlets and still hope for a recovery. The space box is labeled with contact details and a promise of a reward for retrieval.” Bleat hopes to plan further launch missions, and would love suggestions for mini-experiments that could be included inside the “space box” of future missions. The team is keen to build upon experience and to share this experiment with future UEA balloon teams. The group’s multidisciplinary and multinational dynamic, driven by a sense of independently-sourced adventure, is a great example of the opportunities provided by this university. For more information, go to www.ueableat. wordpress.com.
Sam Royle
11
12
concrete.features@uea.ac.uk
Issue 276
04/12/12
Change in Bolivia
Features
Features writer Robert Norris speaks to journalist Norma Barrancos Leyva about the changes happening across Bolivia Norma Barrancos Leyva is one of few female indigenous journalists working in Bolivia. She came to UEA last month to give a lecture on journalism in Bolivia, and Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous President. Norma conducted the talk in Spanish with UEA’s Royale Literary Fellow, Nick Caistor, translating. She is a fairly short lady who always wears a bowler hat, a traditional piece of clothing amongst the indigenous Aymara women of Bolivia. She spoke mainly about the work her radio station, Radio San Gabriel, has done to help promote and retain the indigenous language of Aymara, one of Bolivia’s 36 native languages. A number of drastic changes have occured in Bolivia since Evo Morales became president in 2006. Where the Spanish language once dominated in urban areas of the country, such as La Paz, people are now speaking in their indigenous tongues instead. This is what Norma believes to be one of Morales’ greatest successes; now the indigenous population of Bolivia are starting to be heard within their own country. A 2001 census found that there were over a million Aymara speakers in Bolivia and other parts of South America. Radio San Gabriel has been working hard over its 57 years on the air to help promote the Aymara language through the use of both news and educational programmes. The station is located above the centre of La Paz in a high up city known as El Alto. The radio station’s target demographic is primarily Aymara speakers who live in the rural and poorest parts of Bolivia. Before Morales, there was concern that Aymara speakers would forget their native tongue in favour of speaking Spanish. Norma said that even her own mother used to ask her to speak in Spanish and not Aymara. Under Morales, however, bilingualism is now being heavily promoted. The Ministry of Education has begun paying for teachers to be sent to the rural areas of Bolivia through educational programmes like those created by Radio San Gabriel. This helps give people in poverty, and those who had to drop out of full-time education, the incentive to go on and gain a possible college education in the city. Norma herself had to work all day with her parents at the orhards in the east of Bolivia. With the money she earned she was able to attend university in La Paz for six years, in the social sciences school. It would take Norma two hours to travel from El Alto to the centre of La Paz in order to attend university. After graduating, Norma won a
Robert Norris competition to work for Radio San Gabriel as one of their social workers for six months. It was during this time that she learnt how Radio San Gabriel produced its news and educational programmes. Once the six months ended she received a phone call asking her to join their production team. From November 2008, Norma began working as a full-time journalist for Radio San Gabriel. Speaking about the experience, she said that her time at the radio station “felt like a second university.” Norma continued with her education
and eventually obtained two diplomas in Communication. After this she decided to focus her journalistic work on the experiences of women and young people in Bolivia. She argued that under Morales, conditions for indigenous women in Bolivia have greatly improved. “Before Morales only 5% of women were in higher education, but things have started to really improve since he came to power. For example, there is now a target that 50% of the Bolivian Congress should be women. Although this target is yet to be
met, there have still been great strides forward.” However, discrimination against both Bolivia’s indigenous people and women still exists in the country. Norma said that “this is not something that can be rid of overnight, but the government is doing all it can.” Morales’ government have brought out an anti-racism law, and media outlets such as Radio San Gabriel, have helped by running campaigns to teach the indigenous people and women that they are equal citizens to the non-indigenous population. Nick Caistor went onto say: “the indigenous population of Bolivia had always been treated as third-class citizens in the past. They now must be taught that they are equal citizens and have the same rights as the non-indigenous people. This is something that is now starting to happen.” While in the UK, Norma has spent most of her time in London working for BBC Mundo, the BBC’s Spanish language news network, she has also been researching the lives of Bolivian people living in England and learning about video and internet journalism. Norma hopes to someday work on a streaming service for Radio San Gabriel, so that people living in the rural parts of the country will be able to see the images accompanying the news on a television or computer screen. She had the opportunity to visit and work in England thanks to the Lola Almudevar Foundation, a programme that pays for UK and Bolivian journalists to spend two months working in each other’s country. The foundation was set up by the mother of Lola Almudevar, a young English journalist who wanted to bring wider media coverage to parts of South America, such as Bolivia. She had chosen to travel to Bolivia herself and hoped to report on a country going through great social and political change, which was not being featured enough by the Western media. However, on 25 November 2007, Lola was killed in a car accident whilst travelling to report on the “water wars”, an indigenous protest against the possible privatisation of water in the country. She was 29 years old. Nick Caistor, who had met Lola before she travelled to Bolivia, spoke about her death at the start of the lecture, describing her efforts to bring greater coverage to a part of the world that was reported on very little in the UK. Hopefully, as a result of the Lola Almudevar Foundation and public talks given by Bolivian journalists such as Norma, this will begin to change.
Features
04/12/12
Issue 276
concrete.features@uea.ac.uk
13
The voice of experience for Nelson? Managing editor Chris Teale interviews the Green Party candidate for December’s City Council by-election in Nelson Ward The by-election for the Nelson Ward of Norwich City Council is fast approaching, and the Green Party believes they have a real chance of winning with their candidate, Andrew Boswell. The 56 year old, who lives on Havelock Road, is an experienced local politician coming to the end of a second term on Norfolk County Council. He even has a connection to the University, having been a member of staff for 12 years within IT and Computing Services, specifically within the Science Computing Service. Now, Mr. Boswell is looking to take his vast expertise into the City Council as the Greens contest the by-election triggered by the resignation of councillor David Rogers on 26 October. In his time on Norfolk County Council, the Greens helped form a number of new policies to reduce the council’s carbon emissions, showing that the party have definitely had a positive impact in local government. “I’m most proud of getting the County Council to reduce the energy and carbon emissions in their buildings by 25% over a five-year period,” Mr. Boswell said. “They’re in the fourth year of that, but are more or less on target. They are now putting renewable energy, solar and
wind turbines onto council buildings and council land in another way of impacting climate change. “It’s a good example of how the Greens can make an influence. It’s a big Conservative county council, as you’ve got 60 Conservative councillors and six Greens, but we can still make a significant influence.” The number of elected officials for the Green party is seen as a good indicator that they are becoming a real alternative, having seen an incredible increase in the number of representatives over the past decade at various levels of government across the country. On this, Mr. Boswell said: “What you’ve seen in the last 10 years is us grow the number of elected councillors to about 130 from a dozen or so 10 years ago. That’s a sign of people taking us very seriously. “In Norwich, we now have 20 Green Party seats: 14 on the City Council, and six on the County Council. That’s going from nowhere 10 years ago. The reason people have voted for us and continue to vote for us is because of the work we do around the Wards.” Nelson Ward has a high number of students living within it, and when it
comes to representing students’ views in the City Council, Mr. Boswell believes his experience of working within local government makes him the ideal choice, especially when it comes to dealing with issues like student safety and the current local policy to turn off street lights at night. He said: “I’ve got nearly eight years as a councillor on the County Council. During that time, I’ve campaigned on lots of things there and done lots of case work with residents which relates to the City Council. I’ve got a lot of experience, for example on the street light issue and safety for students. “I was very concerned about the street lights policy when the Conservatives wanted to bring it in and I actually campaigned against it right from the beginning. What I’ve been doing since then is highlighting to the council officers the particular problems of those lights going out, and I’m going to continue to do that. “I know there are areas of Nelson Ward where students are particularly vulnerable. I would just keep campaigning for that and hopefully get some of the lights turned on where there are safety issues.”
Andrew Boswell with Green Party leader Natalie Bennett
Mr. Boswell also has other focuses should he be elected to the ward, in particular to improve the City Council’s transparency and for greater equality for the people of Norwich. He added: “There is an issue of democratic deficit across the UK, and over the time I’ve been a councillor, to be honest it’s got worse on local authorities. The city council is no exception. “A lot of the decisions are made by very few people and the processes are not always as transparent as they ought to be. I would campaign very strongly to get more democracy and more engagement with the public as well. “I would also campaign for much greater fairness and equality, as there’s a lot if inequality in the city. “What we intend to do is carry on and get some action on addressing and tackling some of those inequalities, particularly in areas like housing. With all the things happening at the moment like benefit cuts, that could all build up to a very nasty situation for the vulnerable, who really need protecting. That’s what we as the Green party are all about.” The by-election is on Wednesday 19 December, with the deadline for postal vote applications being 12 December.
14
concrete.environment@uea.ac.uk
Issue 276
04/12/12
Environment
Students demand banks clean up their act Benjamin Brown Environment writer Students stormed the street on campus last Thursday to “clean up the banks” in an effort to highlight the continued investment in the Canadian tar sands by major British banks including Barclays, HSBC and NatWest. The action, by UEA People & Planet, was part of a campus-wide ethical investment campaign and was intended to raise awareness amongst students about how British banks, have been funding the development of what has been described as “the most destructive project on earth.” Situated in Alberta, Canada, the tar sands are an unconventional oil source composed of bitumen deposits beneath Canada’s ancient boreal forest. Their exploitation has drawn criticism due to the highly energy intensive and inefficient extraction process and its devastating impacts for climate change - tar sands oil releases three to five times more carbon dioxide than conventional sources. The industry has severely impacted the landscape, destroying 140,000 km of pristine forest and leaving behind toxic tailing ponds, both of which have harmed wildlife including caribou and migratory birds. The impacts have been felt most by indigenous first nations communities who have had their land and water
sources polluted and seen cancer rates spike, but are now beginning to assert their voice - in 2009 the Beaver Lake Cree took the Canadian government to court over a violation of 19,000 treaty rights.
“The industry has severely impacted the landscape, destroying 140,000 km of pristine forest and leaving behind toxic tailing ponds” Student demonstrators dressed in boiler suits clutching cleaning gear mopped and dusted cash machines and bank windows in front of bemused onlookers, whilst a push was made to gain signatures supporting the goals of UEA’s ethical investment campaign. On a personal level, students and staff are encouraged to switch their bank accounts to alternatives such as credit unions, building societies and “ethical banks” such as Triodos and the Cooperative, while on an institutional level the Union is lobbying the university to ensure that its finances are not implicated in the tar sands industry. The campaign is also gathering petitions to lobby the government to support the Fuel Quality Directive, legislation going through the European
Parliament that would effectively ban tar ands oil from Europe. Ethical issues officer Rosie Rawle said: “British banks such as RBS, HSBC and Barclays pay lip-service to improving their standards - but we’ve seen no action at all. “The Union has launched a bold campaign to be one of the first
universities to switch their banks on ethical grounds. Hopefully we shall watch its success become a precedent for other institutions alike.” If you would like to learn more, sign the petition or get involved in the campaign for ethical investment, email union.environment@uea.ac.uk or search UEA People and Planet on Facebook.
Flooding: the UK’s climate wake-up Ella Gilbert Environment writer Regardless of whether you’re a climate sceptic or fully paid-up member of the eco brigade, it’s been hard not to notice the weather recently. It seems as if perhaps the Mayans were right after all, and that we had better start building an ark pretty sharpish (although for less misogynistic purposes than the guy in the Lynx advert) if we are going to be able to survive the deluge. There have been evacuations and casualties. Train lines have been down, roads submerged, and houses severely damaged, so why not build a massive boat and rise above it all? Amongst all of this mayhem it is hard not to ask whether the weather is getting more extreme, and if so, why? Despite the uncertainties inherent within climate science, hydrology and meteorology, it is abundantly clear that more and more of these extreme weather events are happening, and that they strongly correlate with rising emissions
and temperatures, as well as wholesale alterations to poorly understood processes like the El Niño Southern Oscillation. Climate change has not been blamed for these events outright but it is on everyone’s lips, and The Guardian, BBC and secretary of state for Welsh David Jones have all tentatively suggested the connection. In a recent study of British media representation of climate change and the weather, it was found that the media have a significant impact on public perception, and has a mixed effect on genuine debate on the topic. The media undoubtedly influences our knowledge and ideas about climate change – it is not easy to avoid, especially in our technological age. Media in the last week or so has been heavily focussed, naturally, on the flooding tearing across large swathes of the country, but has seemingly forgotten about the climate talks currently underway in Doha, or indeed the connection between the two. It is
becoming increasingly pressing that we find a new Kyoto Protocol, and act soon to cut global emissions. However, if the massive failure of Copenhagen is anything to judge by, Doha looks condemned to a similar fate. Regardless of the carefully worded treaties or statements of intent that nations sign, it is unlikely that a replacement for Kyoto will be found, or that any significant, binding agreements will be made. In this climate it is unthinkable that the coalition government are cutting funding for flood protection whilst continuing to throw money at Trident, arms and the Ministry of Defence. People are in desperate situations, and this news is unlikely to bring any semblance of comfort. To top it all off, the agreement between the government and the Association of British Insurers runs out next year, and talks to renegotiate a new agreement are grinding to a halt. The collapse means thousands of people will be denied insurance and have to bear the costs
of sorting out the damage of further flooding in the future, which the National Flood Forum deemed “outrageous”. It is obvious that politicians cannot see beyond the ends of their noses, nor their terms in office, which makes this dire situation decidedly worse. But there is only so long that we can collectively ignore the signs.
Science & Tech
04/12/12
Issue 276
concrete.science@uea.ac.uk
15
There’s nothing free about free-range Suhailah Ali Science writer It seemed like such a simple ethical decision: free-range eggs instead of caged. Well-treated chickens; clearer consciences. Less suffering all round. Perhaps it was naïve to think it would be that simple. Free-range describes eggs obtained from hens which are not confined to cages. They are allowed to roam freely within farmyards, sheds or chicken coops, with the exact conditions varying according to different countrys’ regulations. The UK population favours free-range eggs as an alternative to caged, accounting for 44% of all eggs in 2011. Sales of caged eggs began to fall significantly in early 2008, a trend which gained momentum with high-profile television campaigns. Several prominent companies and supermarkets have banned caged eggs, including Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, The Co-operative, Starbucks, Little Chef and Fox’s Biscuits. Nobel Foods are Britain’s largest egg producer, supplying a number of large supermarkets including Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, as well as their own well-
known “Happy Egg” label. The paradox of the situation is that growing demand for more ethical farming has led to increased stocking density, with profit increases overshadowing concerns for welfare. The resulting conditions are now only marginally better than the factory farms we sought to escape in the first place. An undercover investigation into a Nobel Foods farm in Scotland by Vegetarians International Voice for Animals (Viva) and Five News, revealed some shocking facts. Hens are not allowed to roam freely until they are 1821 weeks old, growing up in crowded sheds amongst thousands of others. They become conditioned to staying indoors, so many don’t venture out even when they have the option to, making egg collection easier. In direct disregard of the RSPCA’s Freedom Food scheme, which is supposed to maintain high standards of welfare for farm animals, electric wires are used to control the behaviour of young chicks. At least one barn was infested with red mite, a parasite which causes skin irritations and can lead to anaemia and death in young birds. Many hens were missing feathers due to fights. The natural behaviour of these birds, descended from
jungle fowl, has not been fundamentally altered by domestication and selective breeding. They still spend most of their time foraging, congregate in small groups with a social hierarchy, seek perches for roosting and build nests for egg laying. These basic behavioural requirements are supposed to be met by free-range systems; the birds at Nobel Foods are definitely not a testament to this. Hens are sent to slaughter at 72 weeks old, a fraction of their 10-year lifespan. This investigation was conducted in
2010, and after Nobel Foods were made aware, they conducted their own internal inquiry. RSPCA Freedom Food were also contacted, and decided “potential” causes for concern warranted further investigation. Yet they allowed these conditions to develop in the first place and without regular checks, so how can we be sure standards are being maintained? It is up to the consumer to make informed decisions; if you are paying more for free-range eggs, consider what you are actually paying for.
Now Dasher, now Dancer, Advances in stem cell now wormhole technology Rebecca Hardy Science editor Ever wondered how Father Christmas manages such a tight schedule when even your Asos package doesn’t turn up on time? In these times of science and reason, many people have quickly dismissed the existence of jolly Saint Nick, purely based upon the physical constraints of time and distance. However, a recent article in New Scientist magazine investigates the possibility of Santa and his sleigh using wormholes to navigate the globe at impossible speeds. A wormhole is described by the magazine as “a tube that goes outside the normal universe altogether - a cosmic short cut, connecting two regions of space like the handle on a briefcase … No more sooty chimneys, and no trouble at all getting stuck inside central heating systems.” According to the theory of relativity, matter can’t move through space faster than the speed of light. But, and this is the bit that Santa is interested in, there’s no limit on the speed with which space itself can move. So in theory, the sleigh could sit in a bubble of space whilst being
moved around the globe at superluminal velocities; thus enabling delivery to over 91 million homes in 31 hours. So next time you use physics to try and argue that Father Christmas does not exist, remember, he knows more about physics than you ever will.
Michael Bolton Science writer Scientists have been able to make personalised stem cells out of a patient’s blood, which could in theory be used to treat a whole host of diseases and disorders within that patient. Many experts believe stem cells to be the next step in the progression of medical practice. One of their key properties is the ability to differentiate into any other type of specialised cell in the body. The usual source for stem cells is human embryos; however, this practise is not without its flaws. The transplanted cells could be rejected by the body in much the same way as an organ transplant, meaning the patient would have to take various immunosuppressant drugs to counteract this. The removal of stem cells from embryos also asks a huge ethical question, which has many experts and opposition to the technology divided. In previous studies, scientists have been able to turn differentiated adult skin cells into personalised stem cells, which the body should recognise as it’s own, and therefore not reject. The team at the University of Cambridge took blood samples and
isolated a specific type of blood cell usually implicated in the repair of blood vessels around the body. Once isolated, these cells were then reverted into stem cells using various techniques. The scientists say that using blood samples rather than skin biopsies is favourable for most patients, from whom blood samples are the norm. Skin biopsies on children and the elderly are particularly challenging.
“The usual source for stem cells is human embryos; however, this practice is not without its flaws.” The team at Cambridge were able to produce stable stem cells, which is a highly promising prospect in terms of stem cell technology. However, other experts have commented saying although these results look very good, they are still at a very early stage of development and need much more extensive research. The next step is to create clinical grade cells and begin testing these techniques in the clinic for the first time. This, however, could take years to become a reality.
16
concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk
Issue 276
04/12/12
Ice, ice, baby
Jonathan Stuart Travel writer It is fair to say that northern China isn't the average traveller's first choice for a winter getaway, which is understandable given the bitterly cold weather. However, there is one frozen worldly gem there that could change your mind. Winter supposedly ends in China with the famous Chinese Spring Festival although it still snows two and a half months later in April. This two-week annual holiday is the biggest and most important event in the Chinese calendar which also sees the world's largest human migration. Roughly 300 million of the 1.3 billion population travel both home and abroad using every last available inch of public transport in the process. According to a news report, 820,000 long distance buses alone operate during this manic holiday period. You may be wondering how a little known destination that has an average winter temperature of minus 17 degrees might entice someone to visit during February. Well, the answer is the Harbin Ice Festival which has been running since 1963. On first stepping out the airport, you discover a new meaning to the word cold, but this harsh climate lends itself nicely to the spectacular annual event which offers a range of sculptures including animals, ice cold beer and scaled down versions of some of the world’s most iconic man-made structures; from China's Forbidden City to Rome's Colosseum. These truly impressive structures are best visited at night as laser shows and multi-coloured lighting illuminate
Travel
the crystal clear ice leaving it beautifully juxtaposed with the dark night sky. There are also fun ice slides, ice skating rinks and even an ice stage with accompanying dance floor to ensure you are both wowed and entertained during your visit. It is a unique form of architectural design that you seldom see in the world on this scale, with many “ice fanatics” deeming Harbin's to be the most impressive of all. The recreation of these global landmarks is no easy task; the huge blocks of ice are taken from the Songhua River that runs directly through Harbin as soon as the big freeze of the gruelling winter months sets in. With the ice a metre and a half thick at certain points (and a slightly less vigorous set of health and safety policies) this expansive frozen area isn’t wasted by the locals, being utilised as a mammoth ice skating rink and general play area, with ice hockey matches, ice baths and even horse and carriage rides for those most trusting in the sturdiness of the ice. Braving the cold and ticking off the list of tourist hotspots to visit in Harbin should include a trip to the Snow Festival which, as the name suggests, is the Ice Festival’s more powdery but slightly less extravagant sister. The Ice Festival is by far the main attraction upon anyone's visit, but Harbin offers other wintery delights that make it a worthwhile stop for a few days as part of a longer journey across China. The Ice Festival certainly lived up to both its reputation; and with next year's 50th anniversary planned to be the biggest and most creative yet you might want to book your trip there sooner rather than later.
The city in the desert Joey Millar Travel writer
Joey Millar
Albuquerque isn't your average whitepicket-fence type of American town. Yes there are frat parties and cheerleaders and startlingly multi-coloured cereals. But it also has high crime and poverty rates, very visible homelessness and drug problems, and a steadfast belief that the pedestrian is a mythical creature that simply does not exist. Public transport is a no-go for people hoping to avoid aggressive solicitation, while downtown is eerily abandoned after dusk. Most visitors to the area get syphoned 100km north to the trendier Santa Fe, leaving Albuquerque playing the role of the forgotten Route 66 relic.
But despite the dust and the sweat, despite the bail bond shops and the rundown motels, there is something about Albuquerque that grows on you. There is a certain charm to the straight-talking, dry-humoured city unblushingly going about its business in the middle of the desert. The biggest place for hundreds of kilometres around, the city seems unaffected by the tiptoeing liberalism of the east coast and the white-toothed fakery of the west. It's different – not prettier or richer by any means – but proudly different nonetheless. In Albuquerque the influence of Hispanic and Latino culture is everywhere. Whereas in Norwich the height of diversity is the Royal Tandoori on Unthank Road, in 'Burque it feels at times as though you
may have accidentally crossed the border. While it may be a Daily Mail reader's nightmare, it is refreshingly new. The city also offers a great array of travel options, with Mexico to the south, Texas to the east, Colorado to the north and Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and California to the west. Many tourist guides actually advise skipping Albuquerque altogether to focus on the smaller, artsier towns nearby. This couldn't be worse advice. Yes, if you want mass-produced, crowd-friendly Native American knick-knacks then, by all means, head up the I-25 to Taos. If you want to experience an invigoratingly authentic American city, then throw away your Lonely Planet and head into the heat of the desert.
Travel
04/12/12
Photography Corner
Issue 276
concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk
17
I know a great little place ... Every week our writers will tell you their favourite place in the world. This week, Rachael Lum describes her favourite ice cream shop in Florence, Italy Gelato shops are peppered all over Florence but there is this little gelataria near the Duomo that several locals claim to be their favourite. Located on Via Faenza, Antica Gelateria Fiorentina has a range of gelatos, sorbets and crepes, amongst other desserts. The creamier ones are especially gorgeous. Apart from the traditional options, the owners often come up with their own
experimental flavours so the menu changes regularly. Ask them nicely and they might show you how gelato is made. Costing roughly two euros for a medium sized cup and 1.20 for a cone, it is one of the cheapest places for gelato in the city. If you are thinking of trying more flavours or making it part of your holiday diet, this is the best way to indulge without blowing your budget.
Rianna Hudson at the Li River in China Are you a budding photographer? Here at Concrete we love seeing your travel pictures, so why not send them in? Just email them to concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk.
Lisbon: an overlooked destination Jessica Crisp Travel writer Teetering on the steep hillsides which surround the Rio Tejo, Portugal’s capital city waits patient and unassuming to charm and captivate its guests. Often overlooked as a European city break, Lisbon is home to stunning architecture, a dynamic music scene and a labyrinth of ancient streets unchanged by time. Wandering the backstreets is the best way to get to the heart of this medieval city and discover how the life of the Lisboêta has changed little over the centuries. Negotiating the narrow, cobbled lanes of the old quarter with ease, they trade gossip or plan the next neighbourhood festival at the public baths or over a glass of wine at a tiny patio restaurant. A less strenuous way to explore the city is by catching a ride on the tram. These trams are the perfect way to climb to the top of one of the seven hills in the city, the most impressive being home to the Castelo de São Jorge which offers commanding views, particularly at sunset when the fading light bathes the red-tiled roofs of the city in a warm glow. Wandering down from the castle through the streets of the Alfama district is the perfect way to get a snapshot of the city’s Moorish past. Mid-June plays
host to the Festa de Santo António where pastel coloured streamers explode over the streets and the delicious aroma of grilled sardines satiates the air. Fado is synonymous with Portugal and was born in Alfama, but is best enjoyed in Bairro Alto where tourists are scarcer. This melancholic, bluesy music fits in among the jazz, indie and reggae bars which come alive at night in Bairro
Alto. This youthful spirit fuses well with the historic side of the city, with many bars setting up home in old mansions or shoebox-sized brothels. You cannot leave the city without seeing the view worth a million dollars. The ferry trip to Cacilhas on the other side of Rio Tejo reveals Lisbon’s ever-changing skyline, best admired whilst walking along the tranquil riverside at sunrise or
feasting at a rustic restaurant with a table overlooking the water. Lisbon is home to some quaint museums, but an unusual way to learn of its long history is to keep an eye out for the azulejos (blue tiles) which cover buildings throughout the city and add to the colourful cityscape. Often extending past the walls and onto the streets; the intricate designs which snake across plazas and patios have a tendency to inflict mild disorientation if stared at for too long. For an amusing and funky shopping experience Feira da Ladra, or Thieves Market, plays host to the city’s biggest flea market. Aptly named, it’s easy to grab a bargain browsing through old jewellery, clothes, vinyl and an array of intriguing odds and ends. Nowhere does pastries quite like Portugal and nowhere does them better than Doce Real; a real treasure in a city brimming with gems, this patisserie is a secret worth sharing. The sweet smell of fresh bread drifts through the door enticing all who gaze in temptation at the perfect muffins, cream tarts and warm brioche sandwiches which adorn the windows Lisbon is one of Europe’s oldest cities and is steeped in history, and despite the arrival of bars and nightclubs, it has reassuringly lost none of its character or authenticity.
18
concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk
Issue 276
04/12/12
Lifestyle
The family politics of Christmas dinner
Emily-Claire Tucker Lifestyle writer For the last few weeks of term, many students fantasise about Christmas dinner. Whether you are from a turkey,
chicken or nut roast family, 25 December marks the culinary event of the year. For those of us who do not pass out with joy at the mere sight of pigs in blankets, there are certain familial rituals that have to be observed during
the annual feast. With all relatives from the furthest stretches of the extended family, or at the very least grandparents, being present at the Christmas meal, a certain level of polite conversation is expected of everyone. In the case of some relatives, especially the ones only ever seen at Christmas, even this basic level of conversation can be taxing. For a student, there are two types of questions that will inevitably be asked. The first are the most common and most dreaded: “what are you going to do after you graduate?”, “what have you learnt that will get you a job?” and “have you looked into [insert company name] as a potential employer?” These questions not only cause long awkward silences, but can also very easily become the catalyst of the worst possible scenario, a Christmas family argument. The best option, if not the easiest, is to be optimistically honest - turn “I have no clue and I’m terrified” into “I’m still exploring my options really.” If you have googled or thought about a job at all then technically this is not a lie. Smiling and reaching for another portion of mashed potato in turn means you cannot reply to any further questions, at least for another year. The second type of questions to be expected from academic relatives are more along the lines of “do you do [insert
student hobby]? I used to!” These are comparatively harmless, and usually just an excuse for the questioning relative to regale some “hilarious” old stories from their own student days. Again, the best response to this is smiling and eating, maybe including some interested nonverbal noises as well.
“Storming off and shutting yourself in your room halfway through the turkey being carved will taint your grandma’s mental image of you for months to come” At the end of the day, the dinner lasts a maximum of two hours, but storming off and shutting yourself in your room halfway through the turkey being carved will taint your grandma’s mental image of you for months to come. For many modern families, opportunities for reunion are few and far between, and should be appreciated. While Christmas may last only a day, your relatives are your family 365 days a year, and the ramifications of a slight at the dinner table will carry forth into the new year and beyond. Remember, however big, small, awkward, obnoxious or noisy your family is, it is Christmas; for at least one day, just grin, bear it, and be nice.
Spending the holidays away from home Maddy Hutt Lifestyle writer The Christmas season is, for many of us, a time for family, friends and home, but it is not always possible to have all three. If you are staying in Norwich this winter, there is no shortage of events to keep you feeling festive and entertained away from home. At the St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Cathedral on Earlham Road, UEA Choir are holding their Christmas concert. Go along on 13 December for an evening of seasonal songs in the beautiful atmosphere of the cathedral. Admission costs £8 for adults and £5 for concessions. For an evening of traditional British Christmas entertainment, the pantomime is the place to be. Some people cringe at them and others love them, so find out for yourself at Norwich Theatre Royal this winter with their showings of Aladdin throughout December and January. Though they may not be with you, you can send your family and friends the perfect seasonal greeting to let them know you are thinking of them. The Assembly House on Theatre Street holds the Charity Christmas Card Shop, open
until Saturday 15 December (MondaySaturday, 9:30am-5pm) and sell beautiful festive cards and advent calendars. This Georgian house also has a café serving a special festive afternoon tea for £16 per person; perfect for a mid-shopping treat. The Forum is hosting a variety of Christmassy events this year. There is the festive farmers’ market on Saturday 8 December, where you can sample local goods, and throughout the month the Forum will be home to a giant globe in which you can feel like a Borrower and frolic in the snow. There will also be a nostalgic Christmas screening in the Fusion multimedia centre, showing home films from the East Anglian Film Archive. For a more laidback setting, try the Dining Rooms located next to Cinema City. Curl up with a warming pint of winter spiced cider or an Irish coffee in this stunning venue that was once the Great Hall of Suckling House, which has retained its beautiful high vaulted ceiling. As for New Year’s Eve, if it’s a vibrant, busy night that you are after, Wonderland’s NYE Party promises live music, stilt walkers and angle grinders. However, if you’re looking for a smaller venue with classic cocktails and a musical
mix of Motown, indie and hits from the 1980s, then Karma Kafe is the venue for you. There are many events to keep you
feeling cheery so, should you be staying in the city over the holidays, make sure that you make the most of what Norwich has to offer this Christmas and New Year.
Lifestyle
04/12/12
Issue 276
concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk
Why customer service counts Bex White Lifestyle writer
Shops at Christmas are always packed, and the staff do always seem to be run off their feet, but it is the friendliest staff that can really make your day. Especially at Christmas, good customer service can not only leave with a smile on your face but also a smile on the person you are giving a present to, which is why some shops go out of their way to make sure their customer service is of the highest standard they can. Despite this, some shops continue to fall, offering worse and worse customer service to their customers, but surely this makes a massive difference to where we choose to shop? Poor service can actually leave you appalled when you leave a store, but does
it necessarily mean you won’t go back there? Two members of staff chatting to each other, rather than paying attention to serving whoever is in front of them, can be one of the most annoying and rude things a shop assistant can do. But is it really going to put you off a store you frequently visit? It is the products we visit shops for, and, depending on the store, more often than not customers go back because they like the products they buy, not necessarily because the staff who serve them are exceptionally helpful. At Christmas, stores will go into overdrive with their customer service, putting on as many staff as they can afford to ensure that the customer has a good experience, so clearly they believe that it can make a difference. With the increased popularity of online shopping, customer service and
advice remains one of the few things the high street can offer which a laptop cannot, but in truth a lot of people are continuing to choose the convenience provided by the internet rather than the high street. Good customer service is invaluable. A mistake often made by stores is confusing good customer service with pressuring you to spend more than you want, but amazing customer service makes you feel like you have been treated well, not like you have been conned out of your money. Even at Christmas, when staff have to deal with everyone from the angry customer to the shopper who has no idea what they want, good customer service can make that person feel appreciated, and it will always be necessary if they want to keep their customers.
Are we too old for Christmas?
Sidonie Chaffer-Melly Lifestyle writer
Christmas: a time to eat yourself silly, watch festive films and receive the presents from your parents that you spent so long dithering over. But for how much longer? Are we getting too old to keep getting gifts from mum and dad? If you’re trying to promote the image to your parents that you are a strong, independent person who does not need to live by their rules, it may be a little hard to justify handing over a foot long list of things that you want them to buy you. Equally, creating a list can prove to be difficult and you can end up with a load of junk that you then have to find a home for in your tiny student room.
It also creates the obligation that you have to continue to buy them presents, which can get pretty tight when you are living on a shoestring. Trying to solicit wish lists from parents who insist that you should not buy them anything is equally as stressful, and before you know it you are dashing round the shops on Christmas Eve wondering if they would appreciate a set of novelty salt and pepper shakers. However, there are definitely upsides to continuing to receive presents from your parents. Christmas is the perfect time to get all the things you have been obsessing over but could not afford all term. Whether it is ridiculously overpriced foundation or the video game you’ve been coveting, sometimes living on a student budget means that you have to wait for
Santa to deliver it. Also, let’s face it, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without having something to unwrap. Creeping down the stairs at six in the morning to a gift-laden tree might be a thing of the past, but there is something inescapably exciting about tearing into a pile of presents in your Christmas jumper that is irreplaceable. So while we may be nearing the age where asking for presents from mum and dad is getting a little awkward, there are still plenty of reasons why being a little spoilt at Christmas is perfectly acceptable. But maybe if you are struggling to think of a list of things that you genuinely want this year, you could suggest that your parents donate to a charity such as Crisis at Christmas to help those in need instead.
19
Food coop to hit campus
Alice Edwards Lifestyle writer Next semester something innovative, inspiring and, in a small way, potentially life changing is arriving at UEA. And no, it is not later serving hours at the pub. Something far better for your wellbeing will be arriving on our campus: a food cooperative. The food co-op will run on the principles of making ethical, sustainably sourced, organic food at a low price accessible to the students and staff of UEA. By buying wholesale straight from the providers, the co-op can cut out the supermarket middle men and therefore keep prices down. They have selected products on the basis that they must be organic and fair trade where possible, but do not compromise on quality. In addition, by encouraging students and staff to buy their bulky basics from the co-op, they lessen the emissions of getting supermarket deliveries or travelling into town. Finally, it is also important to the coop that they can support themselves and that the student food co-op is run by and for students, which is why they need your feedback. Products the co-op will sell include rice, flours, lentils, beans, oats, mueslis, dried fruits, peanut butters, nuts, seeds, tinned goods and, by popular demand, popcorn. It co-op will be running out of the Hive from the beginning of term and be based in the Hive on Monday, Wednesday (along with VegBox) and Friday for the first week, so everybody can get a chance to buy. Recipes will be available based around the products to inspire your dinnertimes with your new ingredients, and they will also have an online ordering scheme so products can be ready and bagged for you to collect when it is convenient. Additionally, they will also be running a membership scheme that will provide benefits to members including discounts and deals. Keep an eye out for the co-op’s leaflets, flags and posters around campus, and find it on Facebook at UEAFoodCo-op.
20
concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk
Issue 276
Lifestyle
04/12/12
Fruit pavlova recipe Jasmin Chudasama Lifestyle writer Ingredients • 4 egg whites • 225g of golden caster sugar • 1 tsp of cornflour • 1 tsp of white wine vinegar • ½ a vanilla pod • 284ml carton double cream • 1 lemon, zested • 450g of berries • 1 tbsp of icing sugar Method 1. Prepare and weigh out your ingredients and then preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Line your baking tray with baking parchments and set to one side. 2. Whisk your egg whites (definitely try to use an electric whisk if you can) until they start to make stiff and shiny peaks, then gradually start adding your sugar a few teaspoons at a time. 3. Whisk thoroughly between each
addition of sugar. 4. Whisk for about five minutes, or until you can see that your meringue is shiny and stands up in stiff peaks. If you are feeling lucky, you can try turning the mixing bowl upside down without the meringue moving (risky, we know). Once the meringue is of the desired consistency, add your white wine vinegar and the cornflour which will give it its shine once it is cooked. 5. Preferably with a rubber spoon and spatula, dollop a spoonful of the mixture into the middle of the baking parchment and then add 6 more around it. Continue to add dollops around those until you have used up all of the mixture and you have a nice circle. Then, with the spatula, go around the meringue giving it horizontal lines for any cracks that may happen when its cooking (which isn’t a bad thing) then try and make a concave shape in the middle. 6. Place the meringue in the oven at a
Jasmin Chudasama
reduced temperature of 120 degrees for an hour and a half, and try not to open the oven door whilst it is cooking. 7. When it has had its time in the oven, turn the oven off and leave the meringue to sit whilst you whip your
double cream. 8. Once completely cool (give it a few hours), spoon the cream onto the meringue and chop up your fruit, sprinkle on some icing sugar and add your Christmas figures and decorate how you like.
Christmas pudding cupcakes Lydia Clifton Lifestyle writer 2. Ingredients • 50-70g of dark chocolate • 150g of butter • Three eggs • 120ml of soured cream • 150g of self-raising flour • 150g of caster sugar • 150g of ground almonds • 6-7 tablespoons of cocoa powder • Baking powder • Vanilla extract • Icing sugar • Ready to roll icing • Red and green food colouring • Glace cherries with decorative leaves
Lydia Clifton
Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease your cupcake trays (or use
Cheesecake recipe Alice Edwards Lifestyle writer
Ingredients • 160g of digestive biscuits • 100g of butter or margarine • 300g tub of cream cheese • 70g of icing sugar • 250ml of double cream • 1 tsp of vanilla extract • A squeeze of lemon or lime juice • 300g of jam or conserve (berries and cherries are best )
Method 1. Take your biscuits, seal them in a plastic bag and bash with a wooden spoon until nice and crumbly (don’t worry about lumps, they add crunch). 2. Add the butter to the crumbs and combine with your fingers. 3. Push this mixture into the base of a 20cm cake tin. You can use a smaller tin if you want a thicker base. 4. Beat the cheese, icing sugar, vanilla
3.
4.
5. 6.
7.
8.
5. 6.
7. 8.
9.
10.
silicone cases on a baking tray if you don’t have the right size). Melt the butter with the chocolate on a low heat. Sieve the self-raising flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into another bowl, and then add the caster sugar and ground almonds. Add the soured cream and eggs to the bowl with the melted butter and chocolate and mix together until they are fully blended. Add a couple of tablespoons of vanilla essence. If necessary, add milk to make mixture less sticky, but it shouldn’t fall off the spoon easily. Fill your cupcakes three-quarters full and try and leave the tops as smooth as possible in order to avoid lumps forming as they rise. Cook for 15-20 minutes.
9. Once cooked, allow the cakes to cool. 10. Turn out the cakes upside down, showing the rounder side ready for decoration. 11. You may need to trim underneath so they stand nicely. 12. To decorate, mix thick white icing with icing sugar and water (the thicker, the better) and carefully place small blobs on top of each and use a knife to guide drips of icing down the sides. 13. With your hands, rub red and green food colouring into two small balls of ready to roll icing and shape small green ‘leaves’ and small red ‘cherries’. Alternatively you could use bits of real cherries and find decorative leaves in a baking or craft shop. 14. Sprinkle with icing sugar. 15. Serve.
extract and lemon juice together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the double cream until it thickens. Fold the cream into the cheese mixture. It should feel quite heavy and thick. Tip this mixture onto the base and flatten out with a spoon or spatula. Cover with cling film and leave for at least 4 hours, preferably all day or overnight. Cover evenly with your jam or conserve of choice. If you wish, add fruit to decorate. Serve.
Alice Edwards
22
concrete.sport@hotmail.co.uk
Issue 276
04/12/12
Canary Corner by Matthew Hubbard
Editors’ column Billy Sexton Sports editor What a start to the university year it has been. Concrete Sport has produced some absolutely fantastic content for both the paper and the website and both Sam and myself would like to say a massive thank you to our readers and writers for making this possible and making our job so much easier. The highlight of our semester was undoubtedly having the chance to sit down with England rugby union legend Phil Vickery and chatting to him about his career and also England’s prospects for the 2015 World Cup. Given Vickery’s confidence about the “great recipe for success” at England and their spectacular 38-21 victory over the All Blacks at the weekend, it appears as England may have a real chance when the Rugby World Cup comes home in 2015. There have been plenty of UEA teams too who have brightened up the increasingly colder Wednesday afternoons. Men’s Table Tennis and Women’s Rugby have been lighting up their respective leagues and we’ll do our absolute best to make sure as many sports teams as possible get the coverage they deserve throughout the remainder of the university year. In the new year, we’re hoping to reintroduce features such as the university team form table, where the essential form information will be provided, allowing for a quick comparison of how your clubs’ results are faring compared to others. We understand sport is a big part of many students’ lives, so if you have any suggestions about how we can make our coverage better, please do get in touch. 2013 will see Derby Day return to UEA, and Concrete Sport will be providing live coverage of the event on Facebook and Twitter. We also hope to work closely with our friends at Livewire and UEA:TV to bring you news over the radio and video highlights of what promises to be a superb day. We’re also pretty confident UEA will regain the trophy from Essex with considerable ease...
Norwich City have recently played three times in the Premier League. The Canaries went into the Everton game hoping to extend their five-match unbeaten run and the fans at Goodison Park witnessed a game where both teams played good football. However, neither side was able to create many chances in the first half. Despite this, Everton took the lead in the 12th minute after a Steven Whittaker misjudgment allowed Bryan Oviedo to cross and Steven Naismith to score. The second half saw a more creative Norwich side who looked determined to get something from the game and they were able to in injury time. A deep Javier Garrido cross saw Sebastian Bassong header in from close range and earn Norwich a brilliant away point. The Canaries then had another difficult away game against an improving Southampton side. Norwich fell behind to a scrappy Rickie Lambert goal in the 32nd minute. There was also suspicion of handball in the Saints’ goal but the scores were level again on the stroke of half time. A poor Robert Snodgrass free kick crept into the near post due to some bad goalkeeping in the 45th minute.
In the second half, Grant Holt missed a great chance to put Norwich in front but Chris Hughton was still happy with the draw, saying: “Points in this division are very tough to get but we are getting them”. Norwich continued their unbeaten streak to eight games after beating Sunderland 2-1 at Carrow Road. The Canaries started as the brighter side and dominated the first half. A Bassong tap in from a Snodgrass free kick put Norwich in front after eight minutes. They then extended their lead in the 35th minute when Anthony Pilkington beat the offside trap and was able to finish well under pressure. At the break it was 2-1 though as Craig Gardner was able to score with a fierce drive into the bottom corner just before half time. In the second half Sunderland dominated and Norwich were lucky to get the win. Despite their success, goalkeeper John Ruddy will be out for around three months with a thigh injury. Chris Hughton’s side lie 12th in the table, level on points with Liverpool. If they can keep their form up, Norwich look likely to stay out of the relegation battle.
Lacrosse make impressive start Will Farrell Sports correspondent “Fast-paced, exciting and a cracking stress reliever.” Those were just some of the words used to describe lacrosse by club president Harriet Raper. This team sport, which is of Native American origin, is extremely popular in the United States and Canada but has yet to really take off in the UK. Miss Raper responded to this fact by stating: “I think a lot of people are put off as it’s conceived as being quite violent, especially because the mens which is a contact sport. However, it’s all controlled and definitely adds another dimension to the game.” In comparison to other sports it is clear lacrosse does not quite have the same popularlity as football or rugby, and as a result, many first year students join having not played the sport before. Nevertheless, as emphasised by Raper, it’s not long before they all become invaluable members of the squad. Due to lacrosse’s popularity in the United States, a great number of both girls and boys discover a real passion for the sport from a very young age. This, in turn, is a massive bonus for UEA when the American exchange students come over. This semester, for example, UEA lacrosse have their very own, as Raper put it, “super couple” in Reed Salmons for the men’s team and Rae Buhosky for the
women’s team. Both Salmons and Buhosky have contributed hugely to their teams’ good start to the season. Thus far, the UEA men have won one, drawn one, have a healthy goal difference of 40 and lie in second place in the league behind Oxford Brookes. It can been said that the powerful presence of ‘big’ John Crosskill has been one of the key factors in maintaining UEA’s superior goal difference. The UEA women’s team have also enjoyed a steady start to the season. They are currently occupying third place, with a game in hand, having drawn one game and won one game. Training sessions are on Wednesday 1pm - 4pm (if there is no match), Thursday 5pm - 7pm and Saturday 1pm - 4pm. Raper went on to say that, “It’s a really fun game and something a bit different from all those other sports you see or play. I’ve been playing it for years and, being a third year, I know I will really miss it when I’ve graduated.”
Sport Men’s Cricket II almost topple Loughborough Sam Tomkinson Sports editor
The second round of indoor BUCS cricket saw Men’s Cricket II face the daunting challenge of runaway league leaders Loughborough I and a strong Leicester I team. Loughborough won the toss and put UEA into bat, believing that they would be able strike quickly and cause problems in the UEA batting ranks. This was not the case as openers George Northover and Matthew Houghton-Barcoe gave UEA a great start. With a mixture of HoughtonBarcoe’s hitting power and Northover’s touch, Loughborough struggled to get the early dismissal they wanted. This continued throughout the middle overs as Gabriel Inch and Sam Tomkinson both scored 25 being retiring and continued to pile on the runs against bowling that struggled to find any kind of rhythm. At the end of their 10 overs UEA amassed a competitive 128-2. Loughborough were confident of chasing these runs having convincingly chased down totals previously. Opening bowlers Nick Emery and Chris Webber halted the Loughborough charge with good length and pace, however they continued to keep close to the run rate and some huge hitting in the middle overs saw them take control of match. With an over left, Loughborough only needed eight runs to win, the with the final ball to be bowled, Loughborough had managed to get within one run of victory with only one wicket left. To the disappointment of UEA, and relief of the Loughborough batsman, they were able to squirt an edge away to win. Leicester, having been dominated against UEA I, seemed, on paper, to be a much easier task for UEA II. This was not to be the case as poor batting and errors saw Leicester win in a canter. UEA won the toss and decided to field first and with some solid bowling and sharp catching, restricted Leicester to 117 all out which, if UEA batted well, would be a very attainable score. After another solid start from the openers, the middle overs saw two run outs for low scores hampering any chance of victory. In spite of stern resistance, Houghton-Barcoe scoring another 25+ score, UEA were comprehensively defeated. These results mean that UEA II have only one win so far. It should, however, be noted that UEA II’s are the only second team in the league and have been competitive in their respective matches. The next set of fixtures sees them face Lincoln and UEA I.
Sport
04/12/12
Issue 276
concrete.sport@hotmail.co.uk
23
Abramovich plays managerial merry-go-round Sports correspondent Will Medlock analyses Roman Abramovich’s decision to sack Roberto Di Matteo As strange as it may seem, Roberto Di Matteo’s managerial position at Chelsea had become untenable. Of course, you’d have to be tuned in to the way Roman Abramovich’s logic works, which in truth, the vast majority of football purists are, even if it breaks their spirit a little to admit it. The Russian billionaire relieved one of the darlings of Stamford Bridge after seeing the club he has invested so much in falter in Turin, with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Juventus leaving the Blues needing a miracle if they are to progress from their Champions League group. After the initial shock of the sacking of a man who guided the club to a first European Cup the previous season, reality began to bite. This is what Abramovich has been all about from day one. The Russian’s first decisive action came in 2004 when he replaced Claudio Ranieri with the self-titled “Special One”, a tag that Jose Mourinho earned with interest in his first campaign as Chelsea won the title at a canter. Mourinho delivered and Abramovich kept the cash flowing, with Michael Essien and Didier
Drogba arriving in big money moves. One criticism that could never be banded in Abramovich’s direction is that he doesn’t support his managers financially; the £50 million signing of Fernando Torres and even the £20 million for Shaun WrightPhillips suggests stinginess isn’t one of the Russian’s vices. Fast forward to the present day and the manager’s office at Cobham training ground has had eight different occupants of seven different nationalities. While football fans have been trying to catch their breath, one specific task in hand has remained a constant, and only one has completed it to Abramovich’s satisfaction, Champions League glory. Success in Europe has always been a must for the Russian; Mourinho was sacked shortly after due to a combination of a deterioration in relationship with Ambramovich and a disappointing group stage draw with Rosenborg. The following interim manager Avram Grant lost the 2008 final to Manchester United on penalties, with Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti also falling short of great expectations. However, Di Matteo’s
Women’s Basketball dominate Bedford Women’s Basketball I Women’s Basketball romped home 7827 winners against Bedford, a result that sees them progress to the quarter finals of
78 - 27
Bedford I
case is slightly different. Having beaten Bayern Munich in their back yard to secure the European Cup, the Italian could be forgiven for thinking he might be afforded at least until the end of the following season, but Abramovich does not take prisoners. The defeat in Turin, coupled with previous misery on the road in Donetsk, gave Abramovich ammunition. No matter how austere Abramovich has appeared in his firing of competent managers, there does, however, appear to be a partial method in his madness. Three months after Luiz Felipe Scolari’s departure, temporary manager Hiddink guided the club to FA Cup success. The Dutchman was then replaced by Ancelotti, who would win the league in his first campaign. Two months after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked Di Matteo’s inherited side would famously beat Bayern. There is certainly a case for consistency in football; success rarely comes overnight. However, if you have a track record like Abramovich’s, old habits will certainly die hard.
Men’s Fencing dispose of Staffordshire Men’s Fencing
125-74
Staffordshire
the BUCS Conference Cup. The team are unbeaten this season and good things can be expected if they can keep this form up.
Whye Tchien Khor
Whye Tchien Khor
Men’s Fencing emerged victorious against Staffordshire to find themselves in the last 16 of the BUCS Fencing Trophy. Fencing have had a mixed start to the season, winning two ties in the league
and losing four. As a result they lie in 6th place in BUCS Midlands Division 1A. They’ve faced tough fixtures against Nottingham, Oxford and Birmingham but will be looking to consolidate their league position in the new year.
@concretesport
Concrete Sport UEA
SPORT
Issue 276 04 December 2012 Chelsea’s managerial crisis
Page 23 Lacrosse in focus Whye Tchien Khor
Squash suffer unfortunate cup loss Billy Sexton Sports editor Men’s Squash were narrowly defeated 3-2 by Nottingham Trent last Wednesday, as they failed to progress to the quarterfinals of the BUCS Conference Cup. UEA were on the back foot before the tie started, as key player Stefan Lubek was on holiday in Venice and not due back until the Wednesday evening. Nevertheless, captain Luke Grindle was confident his team could produce a result, maintaining that UEA still had “a lot of talent” even without Lubek. Five matches were due to be played, each of which were the best of five games. David Blackwell, who stepped in for Lubek, dominated his opponent in the first game and the Nottingham Trent player was clearly becoming increasingly frustrated as the match went on and was simply unable to match the shot selection and ferocity of Blackwell. Needless to say Blackwell went on to win his tie 3-0, with his opponent only scoring a handful of points.
The second match was a lot closer. Filip Svoboda took to the court for UEA but faced a tricky Trent opponent. Both players utilised the backhand drive to great effect but unfortunately Svoboda was edged out 12-10 in the first game. Trent were able to outpace the home side in the second game too, and clinical shots saw Svoboda facing an uphill struggle if UEA were to salvage anything from this match. He lost 3-0, but the scoreline certainly didn’t represent how tight the match actually was. With the scores level at 1-1, Ben Nicholson lined up for UEA in the highlight of the fixture. Both participants played incredibly fast-paced squash and were also evenly matched physically. Trent looked to utilise the backhand drive but Nicholson remained composed and forced his opponent in to making simple mistakes, and won the first game 11-6. However, a rejuvenated Trent player levelled the tie just minutes later, him too winning 11-6. Nicholson kept calm and dominated the third game, aside from one rally that saw the Trent participant perform two
acrobatic dives and still go on to win the point. Nicholson dug deep in the fourth game, despite looking tired and outplayed his opponent, coming from 8-5 down to win 11-8, putting UEA back in control of the tie. Callum Macdonald faced a tough task as he went up against Nottingham Trent’s first player. He lost a one sided first game but improved well in the second before Trent began to pull away. Macdonald lost 3-0 and with the scores level at 2-2, the decider would involve UEA captain Luke Grindle. It was a very tight first game, with Grindle pulling off some fantastically skilful shots. Despite this, he was edged out by Nottingham Trent and the pressure began to mount in the second game. Grindle lost points early on, which gave Nottingham Trent a 2-0 lead. They went on to comfortably take the third game too, leaving UEA disheartened after they deserved to win. The team will now look to recuperate over the Christmas break, and return to action on January 23 when they face Aston in the league.
Page 22 Canary Corner
Page 22