19th November 2019
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Editorial Putting pen to paper Jess Barrett Deputy Editor
Photo: Pixabay
Not registering is worse than not voting Chris Matthews Editor-in-Chief
Concrete is moving from strength to strength. Last issue we had fantastic levels of engagement in the paper, and this week we’re hoping for the same with articles ranging from the argument around rainbow poppies (page 17), which is “juvenile”, apparently, to the hunt for dark energy (page 18). Have a flick through this issue - it’s our penultimate one of 2019! You can comment on our articles online, Tweet us @ConcreteUEA, or get involved in Concrete itself by scanning the code at the bottom of this article. Look out for our posts next week as well as we head to the regional Student Publication Association awards, hosted at the University of Warwick, in Coventry. We’re looking forward to it! There are two events I’ve been looking forward to even more than seeing this issue in print. The Media Collective Christmas Ball, and the upcoming election. If you’re part of the Media Collective, today is the last day to buy tickets to the Media Ball. It’s well worth it – I’ve had a peak at what’s planned and I can confirm it’s going to be fantastic! But anyway – the election. ‘If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.’ It’s one of those standard slogans you hear in the build up to an election. Many people often stigmatise those who don’t engage in our system of democracy by voting. Every vote is a numbers game. In a general election, where there are millions of people voting, votes
are not all equal. One vote in a marginal seat may prompt more actual political change than ten votes against the favourite in a safe seat. In a smaller vote, say of Union Council, it’s pretty much down to numbers. Every vote is equal, and as some people don’t turn up, a single vote can turn the tide, as we saw in the Union Council vote on banning beef from SU outlets. But let’s return to the general election. Most systems of democracy have some kind of flaw. First Past the Post means smaller parties may get a large percentage of votes across the board but not win many seats in parliament. (Think back to UKIP in the 2015 election.) And then there are safe seats. There are over 100 seats in England and Wales that haven’t changed parties since 1945. If you’re voting against the favourite in those seats, it’s likely your vote will not make a measurable difference. Union Council should work, and on page 12 you can read why SU officer Sophie Atherton believes it is council and uea(su) really does represent students at UEA. Yet some will believe 90 students representing 17,000 doesn’t add up. There should be hundreds of representatives of course, but after the first session many representatives decide they don’t want to sit through up to four hours of union council business, or drivel, depending on your disposition. I can completely understand the argument against the stigmatisation of people who have a vote but don’t use it. It’s your life. It’s your choice. And even if you don’t vote in an election in which your vote may
not count for any real change, that doesn’t mean you can’t complain. That is unless you don’t even register to vote. See, you don’t have to vote. You can sit at home and complain that your vote doesn’t matter anyway so you can’t be bothered. Or you can decide that although it’s not perfect, this is the best chance you have to make an impact on the political stage. And anyway, Brexit is in the air. With so many new candidates standing in so-called safe seats, there’s sure to be some upsets. Nothing is certain. In Britain, voting is a choice. But you need to register to have that choice. And that is a sticking point. If you don’t even take the time to register to vote, to give yourselves the option of voting, then no, you can’t complain. At least sign up to take part. And you never know, more students registering to vote may even shake off some of the snowflake accusations thrown at us in the wake of Beefgate. (Don’t hold your breath though.) Scan the code below with your camera to join Concrete today!
This semester is flying by – this is our fifth issue and my love for Concrete is growing more and more. This coming weekend we are going to the Student Publication Association Regional Awards, fingers crossed we win something! This issue has been quite an interesting one for me, most of what I have written about has discussed the Union Council’s motion to stop the sale of beef from uea(su) outlets. The editorial team has had some fun coming up with beef related puns, so please sit back, open up the paper and have a chuckle. If you want to read my opinion about the beef scandal, please turn to the Comment section where Venue’s Editor Ellie Robson and myself have a debate about the motion. In the Interview section for this issue you’ll find my interview with Sophie Atherton, uea(su)’s Campaigns and Democracy officer. We discuss everything from the general election, UEA’s accommodation pricing and uea(su)’s transparency. It was interesting to hear more about the goings on within the Student Union. I spend so much time in the media office so I often find myself looking into the SU office, wondering what kind of work everyone is completing to make UEA and even better institution. I’m particularly proud of the ‘Home of the Wonderful’ and ‘Media Collective’ spread. Take a peak and see what we got up to at last year’s Media Collective Christmas Ball and also take a second to look at the photos we have taken to advertise our awardwinning radio show ‘A Week in Concrete’. The artwork on Venue’s front cover this issue is amazing! (maybe because I drew it?) I am very much enjoying having student art on the covers on Venue, it is lovely to celebrate the work of UEA students. I thoroughly enjoyed drawing the purple face and loved having the opportunity to be creative!
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ConcreteUEA Front page photo: Concrete/ Roo Pitt Cut out: ea(su)
The University of East Anglia’s Official Student Newspaper since 1992 Tuesday 19th November 2019 Issue 370 Union House University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ 01603 593466 www.concrete-online.co.uk
Editor-in-Chief Chris Matthews concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Deputy Editor Jess Barrett concrete.deputy@uea.ac.uk Online Editors Alec Banister and Jack Oxford concrete.online@uea.ac.uk News Bryan Mfhaladi concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Senior Writer: Samuel Woolford Global Global Editor: William Warnes Senior Writer: Piriyanga Thirunimalan concrete.global@uea.ac.uk Features Features Editors: Paige Allen and Leelou Lewis concrete.features@uea.ac.uk Comment Matt Branston concrete.comment@uea.ac.uk Science Science Editor: Jake WalkerCharles concrete.scienv@uea.ac.uk Travel Sam Hewitson concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk Sport Sport Editor: Jamie Hose Sport Senior Writer: Luke Saward concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk Chief Copy-Editors Nerisse Appleby Reeve Langston concrete.copy@uea.ac.uk Social Media Amelia Groves
Editorial Enquiries, Complaints & Corrections concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk
No part of this newspaper may be reproduced by any means without the permission of the Editor-in-Chief, Chris Matthews. Published by the Union of UEA Students on behalf of Concrete. Concrete is a UUEAS society, but retains editorial independence as regards to any content. Opinions expressed herein are those of individual writers, not of Concrete or its editorial team.