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Issue 122 路Wednesday, February 14, 2001
STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
FREE
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by NICK HENEGAN, Deputy Editor
ROGUE students have been blamed for wasting taxpaytfrs' money and putting lives at risk. New figures reveal that UEA was responsible for 34 of the 91 hoax calls to Norfolk Fire Service last year - a staggering 40%. "In total there were 34 incidents at UEA that we would class as hoax calls last year, that is cases when we get there and there is no explanation for the alarm going off," said Norfolk's Head of Fire Safety, Trevor Bacon.
Hoax "Of course that is a lot, but large educational establishments are more prone to this sort of thing, simply because of the number of people. Having said that things are improving which is positive, and us the University have helped immensely," he added. And UEA bosses remain eager to pursue their hard line approach towards hoaxers in an attempt to stamp out bogus calls altogether. "The University strongly disapproves of hoaxers. We treat it as a very serious offence and in fact we prosecuted a two students last year," said Director of Safety Services, Paul Donson.
Illegal "it's very disruptive to students' lives and I think everyone dislikes people who deliberately misuse the equipment, let alone it being an illegal act," he continued. And campus residents had no sympathy for malicious students either. "lt's stupid. it is very bad to set the alarms off, there could be a house burning down else where," said Village dweller Becky Corri (MTH1). And Stave Crook (SYS 1) had a message for the hoaxers. "If you play with fire then you are going to get burnt." he warned.
Protestors use rov.al OP.ening_ to attack SP.ortsP.ark boss' Nestle stance by KATIE HIND, News Editor
ANGRY protestors highjacked the royal opening of the Sportspark in an attempt to force centre boss Keith Nicholls to stop selling Nestle chocolate like Rolos and KltKats. The demo, which organised by Dev Soc, ambushed the Princess Royal 's appointment to officially open the sports facility. The furious students demanded the Union's boycott of Nestle products should also apply in the University's outlets - including the Sportspark cafe. "We used the opportunity to highlight Nestle at UEA. It's Union policy not to sell Nestle products, so it's the best opportunity we had to publicise the fact that the Sportspark sell Nestle products," said Union Environment Officer, Casey Ryan. And Union Communications Officer, Wayne Barnes supported last week's protest. ''I thought the protest raised awareness and that's very important. It might also make the University aware that if they keep ignoring Union policy, people are going to get annoyed," said Wayne. But Buckingham Palace Press Officer,
David Pogson insists the Princess would have been unperturbed by the irate demonstrators. "The Princess Royal has been undertakihg engagements for 30 years now so I would imagine there has been numerous demonstrations and various stages," said Mr Pogson.
Exploits Director of Sport, Keith Nicholls, defended his decision to keep selling products produced by Nestle, which protestors claim exploits third world countries. "If the government ban Nestle products then we will stop selling them, but until then, it's a free choice. I have offered the protestors the chance to put a poster up in the Sportspark explaining
why they think Nestle products are bad," he said. And despite the furore outside, Mr Nicholls insisted Princess Anne's visit to UEA was still successful. "It's great for the University as it puts
us on the map. No other university got facilities as good as these. "The Princess was marvellous, knows everything about sport, and was extremely friendly. I think the was wonderful," he added.
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