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ISSUE 242
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TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
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UEA'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
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STUDENT VOTE DECISIVE Union poll shows less that one In ten Norwlch-South residents think universities should be given powers to Increase tuition fees. Charles Clarke leads election poll with 39% of the vote with Conservatives on 20% and Lib Dem and Green candidates on 19%.
Nick Church Less than one in ten residents in _ the Norwich-South say universities should be allowed to increase tuition fees above current figures, according to a new lpsos MORI poll conducted for the Union of UEA Students. Despite this, among those certain to vote, 39% said they would vote for Labour MP Charles Clarkewho has declined to state a clear position for or against an increase in tuttion fees until the results of the Browne Inquiry are released . The poll of over 800 residents in the Norwich-South constituency suggests tuition fees and tactical voting could be decisive issues in the election on May 6th. The remaining proportion of votes indicate an even split in anti-Labour votes with the Conservatives' Anthony Little slightly ahead
on 20% followed by the Liberal Democrats and Greens with 19% each. The Liberal Democrats' proportion of the vote is down by 11% despite the seat conventionally being seen as a Labour/Lib Dem margina l. The Green party - who are the leaders of the opposition at the City Council - have seen a significant increase in their proportion of the vote. The outcome is predicted to depend much on the prevalence of tactical voting. Natasha Barnes, UUEAS' Communications Officer, stresses the results from the poll show that tuition fees are not just an issue for students: " many college students and parents of children who will want to go to University agree that a degree should not cost more than £3,225. "A significant number of voters in Norwich South want
to see the current system of upfront fees abolished altogether. For too long the two main parties have retained a cosy silence on whether they'd vote for a rise in fees." Cities with large student populations could prove decisive in marginal seats and the NUS hopes to mobilise this vote against MPs proposing an increase in tuition fees. Norwich has been identified as one of the key battlegrounds in this campaign . Currently only Liberal Democrat candidate Simon Wright and Green candidate Adrian Ramsay have pledged to oppose an increase in tuition fees. Speaking to Concrete, Charles Clarke defended his current position: "The Government should only raise the current fee cap significantly if universities succeed in making the case that a higher level would promote
educational diversity without deterring applicants from poorer backgrounds. I do not currently believe that the case has been made but I will look at the evidence offered by the Browne Report before finally deciding how I vote on any proposal. "I favour increasing the maintenance loan so that it fully covers living costs; removing the parental means test so that all students are fully independent at the age of 18; and extending the system to some non-degree, part-time and postgraduate courses. This should l:ie paid for by establishing a real rate of interest for the tuition and maintenance loans and incentivising early repayment." The poll asked 801 people a series of questions based on who they intend to vote for and
CHARITY GRAND PRIX RAISES £3500 FOR EAST ANGLIAN CHILDREN HOSPICES
VICE CHANCELLOR EARNS MORE THAN PRIME MINISTER David Churchill
UEA is part of a widespread national trend which saw university spending packages for Vice-Chancellors sky rocket in the 2008-09 academic year, as it has emerged that UEA spent £519,000 on its ViceChancellor in that year.
The astronomical sum means the university shelled out the third highest pay package for a Vice-Chancellor of all universities across the country. Disclosure of the figures comes at an embarrassing time for UEA while it is being forced to tighten its belt and shed jobs due to announced government cuts, and it is
expected that tuition fees will rise in order to cover universities' fiscal deficits due to "spiralling costs." Since 2006-07, when the implemented government its controversial top-up fees scheme, student contributions have risen by 150% which has helped fuel a pay increa:;e of 15% for the role of Vice-Chancellor at UEA
over the same time span. The amount of staff earning over £100,000 annually has also risen by 30%. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, said the pay packets were justified and " reflect what it takes to attract, retain and reward individuals of sufficient calibre, experience and talent."
Figures show that although former UEA ViceChancellor Professor Bill Macmillan received £519,000 for 2008-09, only £224,000 represented his salary per se, while £265,000 of the overall sum was paid by UEA for "recognising his retirement before normal retirement age." The value added "retirement" package
"was not a payment of salary" and is seen as a one-off by the university, which explains why it ranked third in a league of largest pay packages for a ViceChancellor. The remaining £30,000 apportioned was for additional annual pension contributions.
2 NEWS
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
concrete.news@uea .ac.uk
SPORTSPARK INCOME INCREASES 12°/o Davina Kesby Over the last year, the UEA Sportspark has seen a 12% increase in income. In the period of 2008-9, the turnover was £3 million, a figure which is expected to rise . As the Sportspark is a not-for-p rofit o rga nisati on, th e mo ney made w il l go stra ight back into prov iding high-qua lity sports fac ilities for students at UEA as we ll as those in the su rround ing community. The increase in income means that the Sportspark has now overtaken Loughborough University to become the country's largest sports facility. While many companies are suffering as a result of the recession, the Sportspark has recent ly we lcomed it s 10 m il liont h visitor. lt was ori gin ally fo recast th at app roximately 750,000 vis its a yea r wo uld be made t o th e Sport spa rk, w it h 85% of these be ing by the local community. The fact t hat usage leve ls have been almost
NEWS TURF OPINIONS FEATURES EDITORIAL INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FOOD IN FOCUS
Around 1.3 million visits are made to the Sportspark each year. In addition to this, the expansion of facilities has helped to maintain high usage leve ls. In particular, the new indoor ha ll , the Haydn Morris Hall, has increased attendance and the refore inco me to t he
Sportspark. Efficiency savings have also aided the increased income, with energy and staff costs being kept to a minimum . As fa r as future developments are concerned, a planning application has been made for a new Olympic Gymnastics centre to be
double what were originally predicted is a contributing factor to the overriding success of the facilities.
LIFESTYLE
built next to Haydn Morris Hall, three new seven-a-side pitches next to the SoccerPark and additional parking for visitors. The generated income from 2008-9 will be funding such deve lopments . According to Keith Ni choll s, the Director of PE and Sport, "The uniq ue mode l th at th e Sportspark has deve lope d to pro vi de t op fac iliti es at affordab le prices on a fully sustainab le basis, is attracting interest from sports developers across the world . China recently sent two delegates to look at the design of the pool and its operating model to guide them with a similar development in Shanghai". Shanghai will be hosting the World Aquatic Championships in 2011. Students might ask why prices cannot be lowered as a res ult of th e income, but Mr. Ni choll s po inted o ut th at t o dec rease pri ces wo uld .be a short-term meas ure. Mr. Nic holl s w ent on to say t hat "Sportspark is a great asset to t he University, the city and the county and a fantastic resource for students and staff looking for recreation, fitness or competition".
SPORT
CRU REPUTATION REMAINS INTACT DANH OLLEY
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David Churchill
The UEA sc ientist embroiled in the wo r ldwide "climategate" fiasco has been given the green light by two
were merely "colloquialisms" used " for a neat method of hand ling data." lt also ruled that Professor Jones faithfully di sclo sed all the data that he wa s able to. But the cross -party MPs
data under the Freedom of Information Act. A second inquiry led by Lord Oxburgh consolidated the parliamentary committee's ruling s, finding "absolutely no evidence of
last 20 years, includ ing key papers used by the Intergovernmental Pane l on Climate Change to support the theory that human s induce soaring temperatures. UEA Vice -Chancellor
independent investigative inquiries, but the University has not emerged unscathed from their rulings . The parlia me ntary Science and Technology Committee, wh ich conducted the first of the two reviews, exonerated Professor Phil Jones from the dua l charges of de li berate ly attempting to manipu late scien ti fi c data and wi th ho lding information. The committee scr utinised the infamous emai l in w hich Professor Jones professed to use a "trick" in order to "hide the decline" in tempe ratures, but concluded that the terms
who form the committee severely critici sed what they perceive as an internal "culture of withholding _ information" within UEA, laying the blame for non compliance of data reque sts firmly on the University's doorstep: "on accusations relating to freedom of information, we conside r that much of th e respons ibi lity sho ul d li e with UEA, not CRU [personnel]." lt added that Professor Jones had been used as a "scapegoat" and that the University should have better supported staff in dealing with requests for
any impropriety whatsoever ", further stating : " We saw no
Edward Acton welcomed Oxburgh's findings: "This ha s been a horrendous experience for Phil Jones persona lly and a turbu lent time for CRU and the University. We have had months of vi lification against our most precious asset of scientific integrity which, as t his report confirms yet again, was tota lly unjustified. That integrity, I am delighted to say, rema in s firm ly intact." A thi rd inqu iry into t he infamous saga headed by Sir Muir Russell, which was initiated by the University in December last year, is due to repo rt next month.
evidence of any deliberate scientific malpractice in any of the work of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) and had it been there we believe that it is like ly that we would have detected it. "Rather, we found a smal l group of dedicated, if sl ight ly disorgan ised researc hers, who were ill-p repa red fo r being the focus of public attentio n." The Oxburgh review examined llleading scientific papers produced by CRU scientists which span the
concrete.news@uea.ac.uk
''Would you pay for online ne_ws COntent?'' asks David Churchill
"I don't think its fair for them to charge, especially when there is easily accessible news on television. I wouldn't pay for it because you see headlines everywhere and I think the concept of paying for online content wont stand up. The companies that wish to charge need to find alternative avenues of funding, like advertising. If they insist on introducing levies they will only alienate audiences."
"Personally, I don't think it's fair and I wouldn't want to pay for it. But at the same time if people are going to stop reading newspapers because everything is online, then these companies are going to lose all their money. Unless all companies start charging then surely people are just going to go to another website which doesn't charge. People will always find ways of reaching free content regardless."
NEWS 3
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
"I think it's fair that newspapers want to charge for online content because it costs them money to produce it and they want something in exchange. However, wouldn't consider the possibility of paying for news onl ine because it's just not something I'm used to doing. it's a very alien concept to me paying for news on the internet. it's not something I would do."
"I think if I read a newspaper regularly I'd pay to read it online. But because I just look at online newspapers every now and again to read the odd story, I definitely wouldn't pay just for the odd occasional use. If more companies start charging then I think they need to introduce a system which is fairer for those which only read news occasionally. Until they introduce a fairer system I don't think people will pay."
UNIVERSITY "CHARTERS" Mike Smith
Universities are to be forced to introduce "charters" which would outline a minimum level of services and support students can expect from their courses. The charters have been designed to counteract soaring amounts of students who are becoming dissatisfied with the levels of "contact time" and basic services they receive during their courses. The "charters", which are expected to be introduced for the 2011-12 academic year, were recently announced by Higher Education Minister David Lammy, who said they were being introduced to
clarify "vague" promises made in university prospectuses. The National Union of Students (NUS) welcomed the proposals. Former NUS president, Wes Streeting, said : "Too often vague promises are made in shiny prospectuses, raising students' expectations beyond what's deliverable in practice." One particular student championed the blogger reforms: "One thing that students (myself bothers included) is that although all students pay the same fees, the difference in contact time and facilities from course to course means that some people appear to get far more for their money."
Terms to be outlined by university "charters" : • • • • •
Minimum number of teaching hours Guaranteed personal academic support Maximum class sizes Minimum standards-of University accommodation Guarantee of quality feedback on coursework
NEW NUS PRESIDENT REAFFIRMS FIGHT AGAINST FEES Chris King
Aaron Porter was elected President of the National Union of Students last week at the annual NUS Conference in Gateshead, Newcastle. Porter received an overwhelming majority of 65%, defeating nearest challenger, and current NUS Black Students' Officer Bell RibeiroAddy, who received 27% of the vote. On his election Porter said " I am delighted to be leading NUS into what will be a crucial year for further education, with a General Election, fees review,
and cuts on the horizon .. .it is more vital now than ever that we come together to put our issues at the top of the agenda with a credible, representative student voice shaping the outcomes of these pivotal debates." Porter succeeds incumbent NUS President Wes Streeting. Portrayed and labelled as somewhat of a radical in national media, his policies on student fees are consistent with those followed by his predecessor. Porter has claimed that "students, families and the wider public overwhelmingly
oppose higher fees", whilst pledging "I will fight to ensure that politicians listen to them." Streeting had the following to say on Porter's appointment: "Aaron's election vindicates the long journey NUS has taken to reform our democratic structures and our higher education funding policy. "We have fought the battle to become a credible voice and Aaron is the right person to deal with the challenges students face in the coming year". The issue of fees dominated the conference, with the NUS delegates agreeing to continue with a campaign endorsing
a graduate tax. Under this scheme graduates would contribute to national trust between 0.3% and 2.5% of their salaries each month, over a period of 20 years. Contributions would be determined by salary, with graduates on £~0,000 set to pay £125 a month, and those on a salary of £16,000 to pay £5 . UUEAS' delegation at the conference submitted an amendment against this particular sentiment in favour of free education, however it did not pass. The Conference also witnessed the NUS' continuing
opposition to any tuition fee increases, with Streeting predicting that MPs and candidates would lose student support if they were to support a rise in fees. The Liberal Democrats are the only major party to currently hold a clear position of the issue of fees, having promised to phase them out over a six-year period. The NUS has launched a campaign for the coming election entitled the 'vote for students' pledge, which has resulted in 700 candidates standing in the forthcoming election promising to vote against a rise in tuition fees
if elected. On the campaign, and Porter's election as NUS President, Union of UEA Students Communications Officer Natasha Barnes said "In the past year we have seen NUS organise and deliver the biggest and most successful pledge campaign in the country... lf Aaron can continue to fight for students' rights and lead strong and innovative campaigns that make real change then UEA students will be well served ."
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4 NEWS VC SALARY However, Head of Communications at UEA Annie Ogden, confirmed that the 2009-10 accounts "do not reflect any increase in payment" to the current Vice -Chancellor, Professor He still Edward Acton . receives the basic 拢224,000 annual salary prior to pension contributions, which remain s higher than th e Prime Mini ster's sa lary. The freeze in the vice chancellor's pay wi ll be welcomed at a time when the consequences of the financial cn s1s are being keenly felt across the University. According to projected figure s for 2009-10, the freeze will also see UEA fall from 3rd to 56th in the league table which compares the sa laries of Vice Chancellors across the nation .
MEPHEDRONE CLASSIFICATION Mephedrone is now classified as a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Th e classification means anyone still in possession of this substance is committing an offence from Friday 16th April 2010. The formerly legal drug was classified after being linked to numerous deaths. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, however, found there was no scientific evidence of a causal link between the deaths and the drug. The Lancet a leading medical journa l condemned the decision suggesting it wa s more motivated by political and media pressure than ba sed on clear scientific proof. Police are offering a brief amnesty after which anybody dealing the drug could face up to 14 years in jail. Any person in possession of mephedrone is advised to telephone Norfolk Constabulary on 0845 456 4567 to record the fact that they are in possession of th e drug then immediately take it to their nearest police station where officers will arrange for its lawful destruction .
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
concrete.news@uea.ac.uk
EXPERTS CALL TO BAN "BOOZE-FUELLED" SOCIALS Nayo Hunt
The Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has ruled that university sport s clubs and societies should be banned "boozefrom organising fuelled" initiation ceremonies and nights out . A report published two weeks ago called for withdrawal of fund ing to sports clubs and societie s that hold these socials and critici sed universities and colleges which allow the distribution of leaflets offering drink promotions in freshers' week. Call s for tighter regulations came after a marked increase in the reporting of alcohol-related illness and crime amongst young
people . In 2006 a first year undergraduate student at the University of Exeter died from alcohol poisoning after a night out with fellow student golfers. Initiation ceremonies were subsequently banned there. Th e report, Pathways to Problems, pointed to a路"c ulture of alcohol abuse" which it said should be tackled with urgency by higher education institutions: "All universities, colleges of further education and other major training institutions should take more responsibility for encouraging and enabling their students or trainees to minimise the hazardous use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs" Former NUS President We s Streeting said: " Every student has the right to participate as a full member in all sports and
activities without the pressure of partaking in an initiation ceremony. Selection for competitive activities shou ld always be based purely on ability." He also urged those who feel under pressure to consume alcohol and drugs to report it to their student union.
A number of UEA societies and sport clubs would be affected by the introduction of the proposed bans which has provoked a response from a number of presidents of clubs. Shauna Panesar, President of UEA Cheerleading said: " Initiations are a fun way
for new members to be introduced to the club and are not necessarily 'fuelled' by alcohol. So long as the consumption of alcohol is not a requirement to participate in the initiation activities and alcohol is consumed in moderation, initiations are a real introduction to student life, a great place to make friends and a perfect way to get the feel for the spirit of the club you are joining." Qasim Ali President of UEA boxing also commented: "As far as I' m awa re we' re not allowed to use any of the club pot to fuel drunken events so to remove funding would be wrong. Socials and initiations should be treated as any other night out and an opportunity to meet different people regard less of whether they do or don' t drink."
THREE STOREY FLOOD SUSPENDS LIBRARY SERVICES Jessica Keating
The UEA library had to be evacuated on Friday 9th April fo llowing a serious flood that affected three floors . A burst radiator pipe caused major flooding in the reading rooms on Floor 1 of the library, which then leaked through to Floors 0 . and 01. The entire library had to be evacuated shortly before 7pm for staff to try to fix the leak and rescue as many books as possible. Library Reception worker
Leigh Flaherty was working during the aftermath and states that "approximately 400 books are soaked and currently still drying off." Experts are trying to decide whether the books can be salvaged or will have to be thrown away. lt appears to be m路ostly periodicals and standard-loan books that have been affected, but staff are crossing their fingers that all will dry off suitably and be saved . A number of areas on all three affected floors had to be cordoned off and a
substantial quantity of books moved to upper floors. Leigh described the next morning as " manic" in their attempts to restore organisation and ensure no fu.rther health and safety ri sks. At present there are still machines in place to dry out the ceilings, floors and concrete. Floor 1 has been fully re-o pened and it is now only small areas of Floors 0 and 01 that are not access ibl e t o students . lt is not anticipated this will cause any further evacuations or problems during the exam period.
THE XV FACTOR: WOMENS ATTENDANCE INCREASES Hazel Compton
The stakes have changed since 1990, when men were the high achievers of the two genders. For the first time a majority of women are going to university, according to figures published by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. Twenty years ago, there wa s a lack of women in universities, with only one in five embarking
on a degree. Now, 51% decide to carry on into further education, significantly higher than 40% of young men. The figures show a 2% rise in women's attendance from 2007/2008 to 2008/2009. 45% of the Overall, goes onto population university, which falls short of the 50% the government wanted. Had men's growth in attendance equated women, the target could have been
met. The statistics also found a shift in degree choices made for both sexes. Many traditionally male type degrees like scie nce and maths are being taken by more females, whilst males are more inclin ed to take traditional female subjects. UEA has played its own part - like most universities - helping women to go to university even with their own families. By supplying facilities such
as nurseries and caring cost s they encourage anyone in any stage of their life to enter the university system. This trend is hoped to contin ue as all major parties now support the principle of expanding un iversity places . These range from an extra 10,000 places offered by Conservatives to 20,000 by Labour. Yet this is still not enough to keep up with a 23% increase in demand from last
year. Sally Hunt, head of University and College Union said : "The government should be rightly proud of its efforts to get more people into our it universities. However, needs to be brave enough to back its policy and provide the necessary resources the university sector, and record numbers of students, so desperately need."
6 NEWS STUDENT VOTE their position on unive rsity tuition fees. Abolishing the current system of tuition fees secured popular support across a broad spectrum of the population: there was little difference between the highest economic groups (42%) and the lowest (41%). However, of those in lower class groups more were likely to favour an increase in tuition fees - 12% in class DE, compa red to 6% in highest class AB. However, of the 801 polled only 422 were certain of which candidate they would vote for. Green candidate Adrian Ramsay maintains that their proportion of the vote will not decrease and the poll has in fact underrepresented Green support in the city. He criticised not only the small sa mple size but weighing th e results without taking into account Greens unique support in the city: "Norwich-South is different to virtually every other constituency in the country in terms of Green Party support. Voting 'tactically' here to oust Clarke means voting Green - the seat isn't a priority for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrat, [whose] support locally has been decreasing." Including the entire sample of 801 La bour ga ined 21% of the vote followed by Adrian Ramsay with 13%. The poll cost · UUEAS £9,987.50 which was fully approved by Union Council.
THAI FESTIVAL UEA Thai Society are to hold a one day Thai festival in Norwich's Forum on May 3rd. The festiva l w ill give members of th e public insight into Thai culture, food, performances and lifestyles. Live performances from Thai students will be conducted all day, including Thai boxing and traditional Thai dances. Cooking classes and stalls from Thai restaurants around Norwich will also be held . As well as UEA's Chancellor (Sir Brandon Gough) opening the festival, Dr. Rayna Denison from the School of Film and Television Studies will hold a movie discussion of Thai films. Entrance to the festival is free.
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
UEA STUDENT COMPETES FOR COVETED ACCOLADE
CANCER BREAKTHROUGH
N yo Hunt
H ther Crowley
A UEA undergraduate has successfully made it through to the final stages of the British Councils Intern ationa l Student Awards 2010, "Shine". Ro se Melissa llboudo, 24, of the School of Intern ationa l Development was announced as the finalist for the east of England region last week and will join 11 other contestants in an all expenses paid trip to London on April 21st for a prestigious final awards ceremony hosted by Konnie Huq. International The Student awards is an annual competition in which the achievements of international students studying in the UK are celebrated. Each contestant is required to write a letter home outlining what they have done si nce arriving at their UK institution . Melissa addressed her letter to her uncle who
she has not had contact with since arriving in the UK. She discussed her experience of UEA and spoke of the work she has been doing as a volunteer with Christian aid over the past year. Last year Melissa received an offer of match funding from the EU if she could ra ise £20,000 within 18 months to go towards supporting developments in her home country Burkina Faso. Melissa was in fact able to raise £50,000 in 10 months with the support of Christian aid, friends and local schools and churches, a sum which will be quadrupled by the EU to a total of £200,000. Melissa expressed her euphoria after reaching the final stages: "I feel really privileged and de lighted to be part of the 12 final ists. When I told the news to my parents I had some joyfu l congratulations. My family are really proud and I have faith that the prize is coming to
UEA." Dr Steven Russell, director of Teaching and Learning for the School of International Development congratulated Melissa's achievements, saying: "Melissa has demonstrated great commitment to environmental justice and determination in both her studies and extra-curricular activities. She will continue to be a great ambassador for her country, the School of International Development and UEA."
A new group of molecules that could stop the spread of cancer cells by preventing them from becoming coated in sugar has been discovered by a group of sc ientists at UEA. biological cells Many including bacterial as well cancer cells - depend on a coating of sugar for communication with the ir environment and each other. The new-found group of mo lecules block the activity of a group of enzymes which help form complex sugar structures. The se glycosyltransferases enzymes are synthetic derivatives of the natural product UDPGalactose. Cells rely on them to join individual sugar blocks together. The specific form of the complex sugar structures influence the way in which cells communicate with their
envi ronment. When cancer spreads through the body many of the contacts these cancerous cells make with other cells are through the sugar structure s on the ce ll surface. The findings could prompt significant "therapeutic in cancer, potential inflammation and infection," according to the lead author of the research paper, Dr Gerd Wagner of UEA. "Our results also provide a general strategy for how to design and improve such inhibitors in the future. The 'snapshots' we have taken of one of the se enzymes, together with the new inhibitor itself, ca n provide very valuable guidance for the development of new anticancer and anti-infective drug can didates." Work was carried out by researches at UEA's School · of Pharmacy in collaboration with colleagues at the
UNTHANK ART GALLERY SAVED FROM FIRE Gordon Malloy Five fire crews were sent to the Grapevine art gallery on Unthank Road after it caught fire in the evening of Monday 12th April. Emergency services were called to the popular student area after the son of the owner of the local Subway shop noticed smoke coming out from the roof.
The gallery was not Oi:Jen at the time of the fire . bl aze, Despite the Grapevine's owner, Peter Low, opened the shop on time at lOam the following day. The gallery is located in between the Rose Tavern Pub and Subway shop on Unthank Road. Peter Low said to local press: " it's too early to say how much damage was caused to
the roof and what the costs will be, or what caused the fire, but we will be staying open. No damage was caused to any of the art ." "I also wou ld like to thank Mr Labella, without whose help I don't know what would have happened ." Grapevine features art from local artists with changing lt also sells exhibitions. ceramics and has a coffee shop.
Photosoc exhibition, in St. Gregory's Church Norwich (near the Birdcage) Preview on Thursday 29th April 7.00 pm to late Live Music and Drinks
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8 TURF
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TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
The new face of campaigning
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Jessica Friend The internet is integral to our everyday lives; we can order our groceries, have virtual dates or make new 'friends' all at the convenience of our computer screens, thanks to social networking sites. However, such websites are beginning to move our personal virtual networks into the political arena. Both political and environmental cam paigners have realised their ability to reach potential cause supporters en mass through cyberspace . Facebook, for example, has ove r 400 million active users alone, with over 50 percent
logging on at least once a day. Political lobbyists, most Barack Obama's notably preside ntial campaign, Face book's have utilised promotional opportunities; Obama currently tallies an impressive seven million Facebook fans. Social networking sites all ow politicians and their teams to directly engage with their potentia l supporters through the traditional Facebook fea tures; responding to wall posts and keeping fan s updated with their latest policies. If internet-based technologies, lead by social networking
sites like Facebook, have the potential to change the face of political activism, why then cannot such tools be used in the field of enviro nmental campaigning? in the Following footsteps of other online environmental campaigns, the 'We want Facebook to use 100% renewable energy' group attempts to high light the impacts of the internet and IT industry on climate Currently boasting change. over 150,000 fans, the group is encouraging multinational IT companies like Facebook to 'increase energy efficiency
through smart grids and zeroemissions buildings' in a bid to reach global emission targets. Similarly, the traditional rules of marketing suggest that for a successful campaign, be supporters need to constantly reminded of a cause in order for them to adopt new lifestyle habits. Campaigning through Facebook allows causes like the 'Earth Hour ' group to remind supporters to turn off their lights vi a a trickle effect of constantly updated news feeds which st retch beyond their registered members. The virtual network provides
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a forum to raise awareness and reiterate environmental problems like global warnin g. The rea l question is wh ether new campaigning tools like Facebook groups can really make a difference for environmental causes. On their own, like any marketing
too l, their chances of creating the real buzz desired by cause campaig ners is slim. Yet, added to a complete crusade arsenal, socia l network sites have th e potential to add momentum an d weighty support to environmental and political campaigns.
Neo-colonial land grabbing
Financial tax to benefit poor
Thomas Hague
Shannon Philip
In 2008, the world faced a major food crisis that led fearing wealthy natio ns, increased food scarc ity, to purchase land in poorer countries, creating worries of nee-colonialism and land grabbing. Rich nations have used th eir wealth to purchase huge tracts of land abroad in order to feed their own people, and now wealth y businessme n are purchasing land on the back of the newly profitable food trade, which could lead to poor state s producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people. Duncan Green of Oxfam stated that if this was an equal negotiation it could be good as it would bring investment, sta ble prices and
The government denies that this ha s led to displaceme nt; however, ex perts doubt this and many who claim to have
The Robin Hood tax lives up to its name: it proposes taking a sma ll tax from the big financial institutions and using this to tackle poverty and climate change at home and abroad. Its slogan: "turning a crisis for the banks into an opportunity for the world." The Archbi shop of Canterbury has declared the Robin Hood tax to be a step toward s a better economic and environmental future. The tax targets transactions between the big intern ationa l financial institutions rather than high street banks. The proposed tax is an average of 0.05% - SOp in every £1,000 - on these transactions. The Sunday Times claims that such a tax could generate around
a market of predictability. by Studies commissioned the International Institute for Environment and Development Fund back this up, saying that land dea ls can be good for loca l industry. They go on to say, though, that many countries do not have the infrastructure in place to accommodate the interests of th e countries' inhabitants. In Ethiopia, Prime Mini ster Meles Zenawi's autocratic regime has allowed him to designate three million hectors of land to sel l to foreign investors while 6.2 million Ethiopians face hunger and malnutrition.
been displaced say they have received no compensation for losing their land. Many small farmers have been thrown out due to lack of secure tenure; losi ng access to water and land. This means communities are further restricted from getting food. Those who work on the foreign-owned farm s are also exploited, with workers of investor Sheik Moh am med AI Amoudi, a billionaire with close relations to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, being paid 75 cents per day; an amount insufficient to bring them out of poverty. As well as rich outsiders, so me believe land
deals are made by the elites of Africa who take money from foreign investors for security and defe nce equipment they can use against their own people. This would be in lin e with many views that t he Ethiopian Government, whi ch has one-party rule, is doing this not to further Ethiopia's development but to line its own pockets. This is highlighted by t he fact that the income generated for the government from th e apparent 1.6 million hectors of la nd so ld is nowhere to be seen and has been kept out of the budget for the treasury in the nationa l budget outlays. The biggest worry is the lack of tran spare ncy of the government to the people of Ethiopia.
£250 billion a year, which may be put to multiple uses. In the true bounteous spirit of Robin Hood, the tax aims to use the income generated to fund international development programmes, efforts to tackle climate change, sustain the NHS and preserve several other threatened social se rvices. The campaigning body behind the tax proposes that 50% of the income generated be allocated to domestic governments as a rese rvoir of resou rces to avoid cuts in education, healthcare and reduce domestic poverty; 25% of the income to be al located to developing countries to aid their economic growth; and 25% towards helping developing countries tackle the
effects of climate change and encou rage greener policies. The id ea is noble and imple mentation appears simple; however, civil support is much needed. Throughout history, society has united itself and demanded collective action, whether it be the fights against apartheid and coloniali sm or partici pation in the Make Poverty History ca mpaign . lt is hoped that the tax wi ll get widespread public and government support. A modern day means of communal support could be jo ining th e Facebook group for the tax or making an informed choice during our upcoming electio ns by considering each party's support for it. Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for International Development, has suggested there is broad sup port for the Robin Hood Tax but stresses the importance of global backing. This tax is a minute piece of th e pie taken away from big international bankers but requires globa l support from this group. The task calls for a mammoth amount of diplomacy, but real change only ever comes from chaining structures and not from society. As social ly aw are stude nts, we could show our support by voting for the tax to have a pilot test. For more information on the Robin Hood tax see www. robinhoodtax.org.uk.
10 COMMENT & OPINION
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
concrete.opinion@uea.ac.uk
Committed to marriage tax breaks? This week has seen intense political debate in the run up to the general election on 6th May. As the party manifestos have been released and the leaders continue to push their ideas forward, AI ice Violett looks at the proposition of a marriage tax break from the Conservative Party. In the run up to the general election, one of the potential policies David Cameron has pushed the most has been the tax break for married couples, which would give those bound in matrimony £150 every year. In some ways, this seems like a good idea and the notion of 'rewarding commitment' sounds appealing; however, for varioLJs other reasons I am inclined to oppose it. on the Let's concentrate attractive aspects first. There seems to be little doubt that in recent years, the benefits system appears to have penalised marri ed couples with children in favour of single and divorced parents; I remember being told that if I had divorced parents and was living wi th one who earned less than a certain amount, the absent parent could be paying us thousands every month and I'd still
be eligible for EMA. The same sort of system appl ies to university grants. £150, or about £3 a week, might be a paltry amount but it's a step in the right direction toward s redressing the balance.
"Why do you hove to marry to prove your commitment to somebody?" Many people sti ll get married as a 'base' for having children, so the tax break could potentially benefit the young, which isn' t a bad thing at all. If civ il partnerships are eligib le for the tax break, all the better- it wou ld show the Tories to be progressi ve and tolerant by honouring comm itm ent
between both heterosexual and homosexual couples. However, why do you have to marry to prove your commitment to somebody? I have no belief in, or desire to, go through the rituals of marriage but if I'm in a long-term, live-in relationship that resembles a marriage but for the ritua ls and docum entation , I'd quite like a sli ce of the pie too . There are people who would be eligible for the £150 who don't really need it; conversely, there are unmarried couples with children (whose relationship may have outlasted many marriages) who would otherwise be eligible and welcoming of the extra money. People often make a lifestyle choice not to marry because they fee l it has no place in modern society; illegitimate children are no longer stigmatised, ' livin g in sin' has ceased
to be scanda lous and the age has long passed when women needed to be under the control of a male head of-household. If you're rewarding people who believe in marriage, why not go further and give tax breaks to churchgoers? After all, people are lamenting the loss of religi on in soc iety as well as the decline in marriage. Would the money really be going Daily where it's most needed? Mail -typ es may moan about all the benefits one of their favourite hate figures, the single mother, might be getting, but, as JK Rowling has pointed out, a working single parent on a low income is naturally going to need more he lp than two people who ca n share chi ldcare and generate more incqme between them. Sure, it seems that more married parents 'stay together'
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than unmarried parents, but is thi s indicative of greater commitment or the difficulty of getting out of an unhappy marriage? Should there really be rewards for those who 'put up and shut up' ? In any case, £150 a year isn't really going to persuade any couple to stay together, making this gesture tokenistic and wasteful. The money would be better targeted at all low-income households, whether there is a marriage or not; children should not miss out because of their parents' choices.
Debate: Should politicians' wives help them campaign? gainst Fact box Chrls Gray Why shouldn't a prospective MP's wife be invo lved in campaigning? The issue shouldn' t be deciding whether a prospective candidate's spouse can be involved in a campaign, but if there are any valid rea so ns to prevent them from doing so. In a democracy, anyone can declare Gordon Brown the best thing since bottled water, and there 's no legitimate reason to take away that right beca use they' re the wife of a candidate·. Constituencies are huge and a candidate can't function alone. Th is isn't a problem for the three main parties, with plenty of volunteers and national exposu re, but for independents the on ly assistance they have is their family. How is having your spouse instead of a stranger shove a few leaflets through a letterbox going to make any difference to the outcome of an election? Then there's the counterargument that an average voter is so stupid, so shallow, that the prominent appearance of a spouse (though in practice the panic is only over the
wives of potential Prime Ministers) would affect their vote. Maybe the theory is that a candidate's wife appearing on TV might swing vote s purely because she's attractive. The man with the most attractive wife obviously gets most votes! Spouses should be involved because they help make politicians appear human (see Sarah Brown for instance) and, because they know them best, are in he best position to persuade others to support them. Their choice of partner also tells you about the MP behind the mask. Finally, a Prime Minister's spouse will be involved in diplomacy. lfthere's the slightest chance of preventing an event like Cherie Blai r serenadi ng the Chinese with When I'm 64 , it ought to be seized with both hands. The spouse/party volunteer issue is irrelevant. Spouses should be involved, not necessarily because they are a spouse, but because every extra campaigner is a potential extra vote. They have the right to be involved, they have the knowledge to be involved, so why sho uldn't they be . involved?
Sarah Brown has 1,118,218 followers on Twitter; you can access her tweets at @
SarahBrown 10.
Samantha Cameron is the creative director of Smy.thson of Bond Street, a stationery firm. Miriam Clegg is head of international trade practice for the multinational law firm DLA Piper.
Lucy Moore How much can we truly learn about someone from his or her choice of partner? This is a question that has seemingly dominated the election coverage as politician s' wives are paraded through ,t he media, supporting and supposed ly aiding their hu sbands' campaigns . But why should our future leader's relationship with their spo use have any bearing on their electability? Does the knowledge that Gordon proposed to Sarah on a windswept Scottish beach increase our likelihood of voting for him ? I would argue no. Getting an insight into the lives of our politicians may humanise them, and of course we _don' t want our leader to be a robot, but sure ly it's about policies, not people. We must not lose sight of the fact that we are voting for the politicians them selves, not the person they've put a ring on . The foregrounding of wives is also extremely patronising. lt is an insult to our intelligence that spin doctors feel they can deflect attention away from the negative
"Why did no-one teach us about nuts ...What are nuts?!"- Rachel Pillai PSI 3
elements of politicians' personalities with a wel l-c hosen kitten heel. lt is also patronising to assign purely shallow roles to these intelligent women who all have caree rs in their own rights . Samantha Cameron has been extremely successful as head of Smythson. Sarah Brown is patron of several charities. Miriam Clegg is an internationally recognised expert on EU law. None of them are ever asked what they feel about the policies put forward by their other halves. Instead, the coverage of them has focused on their shoes, their hair and their beautiful homes. You'd be forgiven for thinking we'd taken a time machine back to the 1950s. The idea that it is the job of th e wife to be arm candy to her husband is frankly shocking. Dennis Thatcher was never expected to follow Margaret around like a lapdog but Cherie Blair was always judged in th e shadow of Tony and, in this day and age, this is not acceptable . For th e sake of our sa nity and theirs, leave th e wives out of it. Otherwise, we might discover th at they really are their husbands' better halves.
,. concrete.oplnlon@uea.ac.uk
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
COMMENT & OPINION 11
Database threat? Laura Liddell
Railway Rage
Taking liberties
Paul McCockard
Jack Brinded
lt was as I travelled back from Leeds to London King's Cross last month that I finally realised just how utterly useless our country's railway system truly is. My train was leaving Leeds on Sunday evening at 17.00. However; as the scheduled engineering works were not taking place, we faced the prospect of getting back to London more quickly than anticipated. Or so you would think. · Apparently not. In this country, there is no back up plan when planned engineering works are cancelled. So instead of running at what one would assume to be normal speed, the train ran more slowly and if we reached a station sooner than expected we were required t o wait, sometimes for about 20 minutes. So we had a ludicrous situation in which we ran to the times which the engineering works, which were no longer taking place, dictated, and therefore arrived in London over an hour later than we should have done on a line with no problems or work taking place. This incident begs the question:
how have we got to a situation where there is no timetable in place on a Sunday? lt has become the norm for engineering works to take place and, as such, it appears that a timetable has not been devised as it is not deemed necessary due to the unlikelihood that trains will run on time. How ridiculous! To rub salt into an already open wound, it is also the case that train travel in Britain is more expensive than the majority of European countries. To turn up and walk onto a train to Leeds from King's Cross this morning would cost £111.50 and take between 2- 2Yt hours. To put that into perspective, travelling at a similar time from Lyon to Paris, which is a longer journey by over 50 miles, would cost you just £56 and take less than two hours. There appears to be little hope for the ordinary rail user, with fares rising above inflation yet again this year (they rose by a average of 6% in 2009), practices including minutes being added on to timetables in order to allow more trains to arrive 'on time' readily taking place and engineering works set to continue to blight our weekend travel plans.
IF YOU HAVE A COMMENT OR OPINION THAT YOU WANT TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST ON ANY ISSUE, THEN THIS IS THE PLACE FOR YOU. PLEASE CONTACT CONCRETE.OPINION@UEA. AC.UK AND.WE'LL GET YOUR VOICE HEARD!
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Binyam Mohamed: a British resident caught ' looking ethnic' in the wrong place at the wrong time, unlawfully "interrogated" by MI5 and detained in Guantanamo bay. Where was his fundamental right to freedom from torture? We in the Liberal West, or the 51 states of America (depending who you ask), often like to pride ourselves upon the concept of civil liberty and the inalienable human rights which supposedly belong to each and every individual, whilst we condemn overseas regimes who mistreat their subjects as vicious and primitive tyrants. Reality doesn't prove to be so black and white though. Rights aren't inalienable if someone can take them away, and liberty is merely extended privilege unless it applies universally. What we really have is a list of temporary privileges and if we continue to h~t fear-mongering governments rule us there is a danger the list is only ever going to get shorter. The case of Mr. Mohamed is just one in a catalogue of abuse by the British state throughout history, and fo r those who can stomach it, history reveals that our very own system is just as willing to brutalise humanity worldwide as any. No generation is exempt from this; even the post-war years were marred by the torture instigated by British authorities of Bad Nenndorf prisoners for information of Soviet military plans. The conditions were described as similar to those of the Nazi concentration camps they had
previously overthrown. As recently as 2006, government officials argued that photographs of this crime should not be published. Britain doesn't only mistreat those bf other nations though; it's also responsible for assaulting the rights of its own citizens - in particular, workers. Numerous international treaties enshrine our entitlement to strike, yet our state has a history of suppressing this apparent right. During Winston Churchill's time as home secretary, troops fired upon Welsh coal miners striking for a minimum wage on suspicion of communist activity, and who could forget the way police illegally arrested and assaulted striking miners at the height of Margaret Thatcher's premiership? The legacy of this crackdown upon the right to protest can be seen to this day, where strike ballots are overturned by our legal system, removing the right to strike when the unaccountable judges deem fit. We are often informed how fortunate we are to have a system of law to protect us and uphold our rights, but the only protection it really offers goes to the privileged few. In order to maintain freedom we must sometimes make sacrifices: this is the post-9/11 mantra we are taught to live by, by market-states who restrict our rights t o maintain their own. With each new monster our state creates, a new sacrifi ce is encouraged. Binyam Mohamed's liberty was one such 'sacrifice'. How long before it's your turn?
New Labour's national ID card project is arguably the most ambitious and controversial scheme the party has ever developed. With the budget estimated at £10 to £20 billion and amidst Labour's history of data loss scandals, it is unsurprising with the upcoming election that Labour has 'fallen silent on this issue. However, Labour has stated publicly that the scheme will not be scrapped and is scheduled to come into effect by 2011, but this is not just a benign waste of resources. Everyone made to carry the ID cards will be entered onto a national database recording personal information from addresses to fingerprints and therefore all freedom and privacy in the UK will be compromised, but it is students that are most at risk. When the scheme becomes compulsory (a governmenttarget since the project began) you will have very little control over your information once it has been registered on the database, but you would still be held personally responsible for the accuracy of the information. Penalties of £1,000 are planned to be introduced for data found to be incorrect or out of date, so students who have to move regularly between home and campus addresses would likely be the worst offenders. In 2006 the Department for Education and Skills issued a document urgi!lg universities' across Britain to spy and report suspicious behaviour from "Asian-looking students", in order to prevent recruitment of young Muslims into terrorism. ID cards will enable this paranoid discrimination to operate more efficiently, giving the government the ability to track the movements of "suspicious" student s, and target political activists and nonconformists alike. Since universities are hot spots for "dangerous" independent thought, everyone is a suspect.
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I 12 FEATURES
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
concrete.features®uea .ac.uk
concrete.features@uea.ac.uk
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
FEATURES 13
The General Election Debate
>TURN T E PAGE
Despite the launch of the party manifestos this week, the only subject on everyone's lips has been the historic F.irst Election Debate. So Concrete presents a debate of our own:·what do the Conservatives and Labour need to do to gain and maintain a majority (hung or not) in Parliament? Conservative party member and volunteer James
Devoted Labour supporter Joke Miller
Laughlin speculates...
speculates ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. In the middle of an election campaign, an hour can be just as long. Given the speed at which UK politics is moving at the moment, please forgive me if some of my facts and opinions are outdated by the time this goes to print. Since Gordon Brown made public the worst-kept secret of the year on April 6th, all those involved have upped their game for the final furlongs of an extraordinarily long campaign. None more so than the newspapers, who have been busy nailing their colours to the mast with scathing attacks on both parties whilst lavishing praise upon their preferred victor. As history has shown us, n~wspapers have the power to win or lose an election for a party, as proved by the devastating impact of The Sun's headline, "If Kinnock wins today will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights", on Labour's chances of winning the 1992 General Election (Labour had been leading opinion polls for three years prior to the election). Typically, The Sun can often be seen as a good signpost towards the political leaning of the country; after backing the Conservative victory in 1992, it has backed all of the subsequent Labour victories in 1997, 2001 and 2005. Following a much-publicised switch to the Conservatives a few months back, it will be interesting to see whether they can keep up their impressive record come May 6th. As for the rest of the major
leaves us fi rmly inside hung parliament territory, where no party will have an overall mcjority in the House. There are two likely outcomes in this case. First, the party with the largest number of seats can choose to form a minority government with the aim of .gaining enough support to call a quick second election with the hope of winning a majority. Second, and most touted, Labour could look to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats in order to gain a majority within the House; if this was to be the case, the resulting coalition government would then look to carry on as normal. In order to "win" the Election, that is, to have a majority in the House, newspapers, they have tended to stay the Conservatives will need to add true to their typical allegiances. The an extra 128 seats to their current Telegraph and Express are both likely tally of 198. This seems a tall order, to stay true to their Conservative and it is. The last party to make such traditions, as too should The Times and an extraordinary gain was Labour in The Daily Mail after brief dalliances 1945, when they gained a colossal 210 with New Labour. The Mirror is the seats, forcing Winston Churchill out of only paper on which Brown can rely office. David Cameron will have to rely on for unconditional support and the on a groundswell of resentment against same can be said for The Independent Gordon Brown and his party in order to and the Liberal Democrats; whilst The achieve this. Financial Times, The Guardian and This rare situation frustrates The Daily Star represent the "floating . political commentators, as it makes the voters", the support of whom the main aftermath of the election even harder parties have yet to earn. to predict. There are not only the black Current opinion polls have the and white win/lose scenarios for each Conservatives to be around eight points party, but also the "didn't quite make ahead of Labour, when this time last it" option. year their lead was a massive 18 points. Should the ·conservatives win the Perversely enough, even a lead of these upcoming election, I am of the opinion proportions will not be enough to bring that David Cameron will be allowed to home a Conservative government and take up the position of Prime Minister. Let's not iorget that upon his election to the leadership in 2005, his mandate was to make a good showing in 2010 and then to push for Government in 2015. To have got the party into this position ahead of schedule must certainly be rewarded. However, there are already murmurs of discord within the party from tho~e who are diswntented by David Cameron's leadership style. Should such dissent continue, the party mav be very keen to avoid a repeat of the schisms seen during the Major years and could move quickly to appoint a replacement. I shall deal with the potential candidates later.
If Her Majesty ends up asking David vote against the leader? Should the party decide that a new Cameron to form a government, one of . his very first tasks will be to name his direction is necessary, two obvious cabinet. Barring any major PR-suicides choices for a new leader spring to or defections, I cannot see it being mind. First is Wil'liam Hague. Despite much different to the current shadow being unable to lead the party to cabinet; there may be some minor victory in 2001, Hague remains a firm shuffling, but I believe the big names favourite amongst Conservatives and will remain in the same places. non-Conservatives alike with his more David Cameron aside, the eyes of traditional upbringing and mediathe country will be focusing mainly friend liness. upon George Osborne, who will The other obvious choice would most likely take up the position of be the current Mayor of London, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Given Boris Johnson; another experienced the current dire financial state of the politician with experience of high UK, the responsibility of cutting the office. Boris is somewhat of an anomaly budget deficit and turning around the of a politician in that his unique style country's finances will rest squarely has won him fans from all sides of the upon his shoulders. Quite simply put, political spectrum. it will be this man's policies that will lt is clear that a fair number of those determine the success of a Conservative who will not be voting Conservative government. will do so either out of old grudges (the Whilst the country at large focuses closure of mines by Thatcher) or just on George Osborne, the politics-savvy out of a dislike for Cameron. student would be well advised to keep One thing is for certain though: an eye on David Willetts, who is poised this election will not be in the bag for to take responsibility .for Universities anyone until at least 10pm on polling in a Conservative government. day, so don't be convinced otherwise by Conservative plans include incentives anyone else. Above all else, make sure forthe early repayment ofStudent Loans that you make your voice heard; as this as well as making university easier for year - more than ever - every single part-time and mature students. · Whilst vote is going to make a difference. there are no plans to change the tuition fee situation - to do so in the current economic situation would be madness - one particularly interesting policy is to provide scholarships for the children of deceased military personnel. Other likely cabinet appointments should be William Hague (Foreign Secretary), Kenneth Clarke (Business), Chris Grayling (Home), Dr. Liam Fox (Defence) and Theresa May (Work & Pensions). lt is also perfectly conceivable that the Labour majority will prove too big for the Conservatives this time around, especially with the inherent unfairness of the current system (if both Labour and the Tories get 35% of the vote, Labour end up with iOO more seats), a. d that they will find themselves sitting on the opposition benches for anot her five years. The big question in this case will be that of David Cameron. Will an election defeat be seen not just as a vote against the party, but also as a
At first
it might seem that the problems facing the Labour party at the general election are near insurmountable. After all, they are a party that has been in power riow for nearly 13 years, they are saddled with an unpopular leader and they are presiding over the biggest recession that the country has seen since the end of the Second World War. Under such circuty~stances- you would expect Britain to be heading for an election such as those in 1979 and 1997, which brought in the governments of Thatcher and Blair respectively, when the current way of ruling was decisively rejected by the electorate in place of the promise of change offered by the opposition. Certainly this time last year such a result seemed almost inevitable. Now, however, the tables have turned somewhat and many commentators are suggesting that instead of a large Conservative majorit y with David Cameron as Prime Minister, Britain is heading for a hung parliament or even an unprecedented fourth Labour victory. The question is: what has changed in the past year to leave the Labour
party in this situation? The answer is partly one of electoral mathematics. The ruling parties of 1979 and 1997 were both weakened parties with very small majorities. Callaghan was forced into an alliance with the Liberals whilst the Conservative party of John Major had barely won the 1992 election and only had a parliamentary majority of around 26 seats.
"Labour's recovery is not of course, simply a matter of mathematics; it is also to do with the strengths and weaknesses of the parties themselves" In contrast, Labour goes into this election with a majority of 66, severely down on what it had in 1997 and 2001 but still a large majority by anyone's standards. This, coupled with the fact that Labour generally has more areas of concentrated local support which gives them an advantage in the first past the post system, means that to even think about gaining a.majority, David Cameron has to have a lead of a least t en points in the polls. He is also hampered by the growth in popularity of the Liberal Democrats, which threaten the Tories in many rural constituencies and also by the growth of smaller, right-wing parties such as the UK Independence Party who, whilst not being able to gain any seats, could lead to a split in the natural Tory base, making a differ~nce in some marginal constituencies. At the moment most polls put the Conservatives on around a six-seven point lead, well within the territory for a hung parliament.
Of course it should be pointed out that this scenario does still leave the Conservatives as the largest party, but they would nave to rely on the Liberal Democrats and Labour to get anything done. lt is also possible that · Labour would form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, which means that Gordon Brown would still remain Prime Minister though perhaps with, say, Vince Cable as Chancellor. Either way, the chances of the Conservatives being able to carry out many of the promises in their manifesto remain uncertain. Labour's recovery i~ not, of course, simply a matter of mathematics; it is also to do with the strengths and weaknesses of the parties themselves. Cameron is still seen as a preferable Prime Minister to Brown in most opin1on polls, but he has still not entirely convinced the electorate that he is the right man for the job. Many voters are still worried about his lack of experience and apparent ly regard him as somewhat effete and soft. In contrast, Brown, for all his faults, can claim to have been in charge of Britain's economy as Chancellor and Prime Minister for 13 years and to have saved the country during the financia l meltdown of last year. The revelations about Brown's supposed bullying attitude towards his staff which might have done for him a year ago, have paradoxically brought him a boost in the polls, making voters see him as a hard man who will do anything t o get things done. This election, the emphasis is on 'change', with all parties claiming to offer it. What this means in the Lib Dem and Conservatives' case is simple. David Cameron says that he will offer a change fromGordon Brown and 13 years of failed Labour policies, whilst Nick Clegg offers a change from what he says is the 'Punch and Judy'
politics of the main two parties which means that . nothing ever gets done. Offering change in a party that has been in government for over a decade is more complicated. Labour's policies of raising the minimum wage to £7 an hour by 2015, creating an elected House of Lords, using a system of proportional represent ation for voting and lowering the voting age t o 16 are hoping to convince voters that they mean business. They are also
> A special report ~ on the .shifting > popularity of the > ub Dems
seeking to position themselves as the party of investment, as opposed the Conservatives who are the party of cuts. Since they also say they there will have to be job losses and decreases in spending, though, it would be better to say that they're presenting themselves as the party of some cuts but much less th a!: ~ the Tories want. Labour's campaign has so far been relatively low key. Mainly, this is because they have very little money, since most business donations are going to the Conservative party, -meaning that they have had to fa ll back on their previous standby of obtainiAg funding from Trade Unions. This means that they cannot afford the posters and billboards that are seen across the country advertising the Conservative manifesto. As such, Labour is mainly connecting with voters though face i.o face communication and the internet (their manifesto is on ly available digitally, for examp1e.) Whilst a Labour win would be one of t he great upsets in modern politics, no-one thought that John Major would win the 1992 election. And with Brown's strength in the economy and the serious weaknesses ofthe Conservative party, it is certainly not to be ruled out.
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14 FEATURES
concrete.features@uea.ac.uk
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
The Political Underdogs The First Election Debate was also notable for propelling Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg forward in the polls. Politics and Media student David Biggins discusses what their newfound chances are and exactly what a Lib Dem government would mean for students.
It
you're a liberal Democratvoting student, you're likely to have experienced the exasperated feeling where everyone around you seems t o vote liberal Democrat yet t:be part y always seem to t rail ,,._ inexplicably (and disastrously) behind in the polls. This is because t he lib Dems are very much the students' party: they want your vote, and it 's not too difficult t o see why they get it. They st aunchly opposed t op up fees and, if elected, would scrap tuition fees altogether. Of course this won't be very useful for <my students who are already paying fees, not t hat t hat's any stumbling block for the party's student-esque p,Qiicies. Should the lib Dems gain power, they plan to pay those undert aking internships or work exper.ience £55 a week for the fi rst three mo nths. Furt hermore, you'd find an extra £700 in your pocket with your first job under the Lib
Dems as they plan to abolish income tax for the first £10,000 of your earnings. For as long as the party focuses on helping the poor and the young, students in their masses are going to vote liberal Democrat. So what about the rest of the country? Up until recently the party's trump card has been Vince "twinkle toes" Cable, the man who predicted the recession and lobbied Gordon Brown for the tightening of banking regulations. The Lib Dems had such faith in Cable, that for the first week of the election Nick Clegg was rarely seen without the Treasury Spokesperson at his side (less than hilarious jokes about them being the most popular married couple in politics ensued). Despite Cable's popularity however, he has largely supported Labour's fiscal stimulus and admits that there would have to be cuts in public services, and is therefore not seen as an alternative by the electorate. lt has been generally accepted, however, that the liberal Democrat's golden (tied) boy did startlingly well on the first televised party leaders
debate. Clegg has managed to steal the 'new kid on the block' cap from Cameron's head, and may now safely proceed through the election with revitalised and growing interest. However, despite recent hasty comparisons, Clegg is no Blair. While David
"Don't be surprised if a lot more people than just Gordon Brown and David Cameron start saying, 'I agree w it h Nick/ " Cameron t ried his best to look prime ministerial and Gordon Brown presided with tedious gravitas, Clegg stood with stooped shoulders and had his hands in his pockets. He was personable and direct. Despite the bouquet of flowers frbm Cameron
and a box of chocolates from Brown, he didn't turn into a 'yes man' eith er. He didn't seem to care about the presentation of politics in the usual packaged sense.
Instead he just wanted to be 'fair', unwittingly packaging an alternative new brand for public consumption. The realisation that you're going to vote for the liberal Democrats is a fairly painless experience · (as opposed to waking up and discovering that you're going to vote Tory for the fi rst time, which may involve a lot of head slapping and cursing). Unlike both Labour and t he Conservatives, they've never been in government so they haven't got a tarnished record to hark back to. Whereas you might hear, "Oh, but what about Thatcher", or "Oh, but what about Blair", the rraisdemeanours of Paddy (an adulterer) Ashdown or Charles Kennedy (an alcoholic) haven't damaged the party's reputation or, at the very least, they don't cause a hesitation at the ballot box. If anything it is the age old 'wasted vo~e' stigma that will plague Clegg's campaign, in the way it ha~ long plagued his predecessors. As it stands, the Conservatives need a 6.9% swing against Labour in order for t hem to avoid a hung parliam~nt (and most commentators are agreed that such a swing is unlikely). Grimly for lib Dem supporters, their party would need a swing of 16.5% against Labour if they wanted to become the largest party in Parliament. Failing that, they would need a 13.5% swing against Labour if they wanted to become the second largest party. Clegg has told us boldly that he "wants to be prime minister", however, even becoming the official leader of the opposition would be a
gargantuan feat . That's not to say that his party can't do a hefty bit of damage to both the Conservative and labour's vision of Britain . In the event of a hung parliament, compromise wit h the Lib Dems will become essential making their manifesto more rel~vant than ever.
To look at the manifesto, the lib Dem roots in old fashioned liberalism still shine through with the right s of the individual {and crucially not of t he government) remaining paramount. Yes, they want to selflessly change the electoral system so that it would be easier for them to get elected, yet they would also scrap ID cards as well as the DNA dat abase and would seek to reduce the detentionwithout-charge limit to a mere two weeks (compared to the Labour Party's proposed 42 days). Like the Conservatives, they want to introduce an American style Bill of Right s to fundamentally define {and theoretically protect) individual rights. One debatable boon of such a bill would be the reduction of CCTV surveillance ·. across the count ry, as such constant
observation would be considered to violate an individual's right to privacy. The proposals of such measures tend to be a poisoned chalice wit h t he electorate. On the one hand, students are likely to view t his form of liberalism as a hammer blow to New Labour's Orwellian Britain. However, older voters are often more concerned with how such hasty liberty will affect crime levels. To compensate, the Lib Dems are proposing to increase police numbers by 3,000 over five years. This is unlikely to create a sea of mighty blue across the country as with 43 territorial police forces· in England and Wales together (that would mean 14 extra officers a year per territory). like the Conservatives, the Liberals would also take a machete to the years of Labour's tangled bureaucratic 'red t ape' and slash policing targets, as well as target s and tape in the NHS and other sectors. Even though it's unlikely that the liberal Democrats are going to gain power, for t he first time since most of us can remember they're going to wield real influence in the Houses of Parliament - in other words, a vote for them won't be a wasted one. Admittedly, this has been long expected. What wasn't anticipated was just how . strong (and growing) their support was going to be. Clegg might not be the Barack Obama of British politics, but don't be surprised if a lot more people than just Gordon Brown and David Cameron start saying, "I agree with Nick".
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EDITORIAL 15-
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk
CONCRETE EDITORIAL EDITORIAL
concrete.editor@uea.ac.uk Hannah livingston
p
DIOR
concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk Alice Violett
DITO
HI concrete.editorial@uea.ac.uk Denise Bartlett
N
FO concrete.food09@gmail.com Edward Leftwich
Jack Brinded, Laura Liddell, Alan Fielding, Alice Violett, Lucy Moore, Chris Gray
Ed Leftwich, Danie Hadley, Herbert Vore, Chris Papadopolis, Willy Carbuncle
DITOR
F Rachel Handforth, Mia Wecker
TOR
0 concrete.opinion@uea.ac.uk Davina Kesby
concrete.features@uea.ac.uk M elissa York
S Dl 0
concrete.news@uea.ac.uk Nicolas Church
D puty N
Editor
David Churchill
Jessica Keating, Nayo Hunt, Hazel Compton, Davina Kesby, Heather Crowley, Gordon Malloy, Chris King
DTOR
FOC
concrete.editorial@uea .ac.uk Alice Violett
So, to make sure that this endeavour won't be
rs David Biggins, Jake Muller, James Laughlin
INTERNATIONAL D 0 concrete.international@uea.ac.uk Qingning Wang & Filipa M endes
This summer, I've decided to join the league of 'people who do totally crazy things for charity.' In my case, the cha rity is M ind, an amazing charity that provide help and support for people suffering from mental health problems. Th support take~ many forms including help getting a correct diagnosis; advice about treatments as well as information about rights and legislation. They also provide an open helpline and give grants to community projects across the UK. The 'totally crazy thing' that I plan to do in order to raise mo ney for this cause is as follows: I'm going to shave my lovely, precious, widely envied hair off. All of it.
in vain, head to:
Greg Mann, Hannah Livingston, Ben Hall, Andrew Stead, Mark Roach
LIF
http://www.justgiving.com/hannah-livingston Any donation, no matter how small, will mak~ a difference. The grand hair removal will take place on 30th April, and video footage will be widely available!
ITOR
concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk Samant ha Lew is
Keri Dickens, Vicki Wheatland Nishavitha Murthi, Fahd Shah, Hui Zhou
concrete.turf@uea.ac.uk Rebecca Wiles
V LE I OR concrete.travel@ uea.ac.uk Rachel Conquer
Jessica Friend, Thomas Hague, Shannon Philip Steffan Taylor, Tom Finch, Gareth Rees-White
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01603 453444
SPO T
TOR
CONCRETE
concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk Danny Collins
PO BOX 410, NORWICH, NORFOLK, NR4 7TJ 01603 593466
Lucy Bowers, Andrew Stead, Tom Ross, Steve Castellino, Mark Roach, Alechi Nduka, Ben Frith
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Concrete is published by UUEAS Concrete Society ©2009 Concrete. ISSN 1351-2773 ' Letters should be addressed for the attention of the Editor, Hannah Livingston . Letters mu 1 include contact details, but we will consider • anonymous publication. We reserve the right : to edit for length and clarity as necessary. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Publisher or Editor. .
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• Use of the name The Event is by arrangement • with the copyright holders, Planet Zog Ltd. ; No part of this newspaper may be reproduced · through any means without the express permission of the Editor, Hannah Livingston. Printed by Archant.
kebab pizza eh cken
NON-EDITORIAL ER
C lE Greg Mann
Christopher Buthart, Casper Palmano, Greg Mann, Kyle Spencer, Laura Smith
a t f mlly d al3
13
10 Martin Lippiatt
any 2 x 12" pizza 8 pes chicken nuggets I 2 large chips coleslaw /10 mini chocolate donuts •
£18 90
0 Hector Lowe
FO Dan Holley
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INTERNATIONAL
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
concrete.international@uea .ac.uk
Academic Challenges This issue, International discusses the things international students find hard in their academic and professional lives.
Academic writing
'l he language Nishavitha Murthi it is known as the universal language, it is spoken in some 50 or more countries in the world and it is the dominant language of England. Unfortunately English is sti ll one of the main challenges faced by international students upon choosing to study in England . The majority of UEA international student s hail from various parts of Asia and Africa, where English is not 'l.heir official language. Some of them have certainly not spoke n English prior to their arrival and are in England simply to learn the language. Of course, many of these countries do include English language lessons in th ei r academic syllabu s, but it's safe to say they are never truly the same as a native English speaker. Choosing to study in England is a huge step and in a foreign land, struggling with the language is a big
problem for many. The language is needed to su rvive the academic courses, to complete the endless assignments, to understand academic papers or to write up dissertation s, all of which require a good grip of the language even for native speakers. it is general ly agreed that learning a language from scratch after ch ildhood is a real mission. The vowels, sounds, writing, concept and grammar can all be very confusing to a fresh learner. In addition, when one is trying to acquire a university degree using a foreign language it can be overwhelming and it is truly a reason to be proud when one overcomes thi s challenge. Besides being academically demanding, English also plays a huge role in everyday life. Communication is vital, and as an international student, it can impact soc ial life,
especially in terms of forming groups of friends, going to the cinema, taking the bus and sorting out bills or accommodation. This can certainly be daunting and if not managed appropriately could cause social iso lation and depression. Of course it t akes a lot of hard work and willpower to conquer a langu age but it is also advantageous to know that help is always available . The University has endless re so urces as well as assistance for students to overcome the se dilemma s. The English Language Support Programme (ELSP) at UEA offers free extra English classes to U EA-registered students and their dependents. These cla sses offer extra practice to help students with everyday student life as well as in academic situations. As the famous saying goes, "where there is a will, there is always a way."
The term ''open-minded'' Hui Zhou Open-minded is a word frequently mentioned both academically and in casual conversation. For most people, open-mindedness might be considered an easy maxim to follow, but what real ly happens when we pu sh our brain to accept a brand new idea? History has already given
seem to continue to accept the ideas which relate to their old experiences. Personal experiences are the major elements one consults when introduced to new concepts . The insecurity of humanity ca uses selfconflict, where one feels anxious to explore new ideas. it takes time for
the answers itself in a way, looking back to the time of the Renaissance, or China's 1911 revolution, when the conflict of modern civilization and traditional concepts caused turbulence, proving that being openminded is not as easy as it appears . Although nowadays openmindedness is more encou raged than it was 100 ye ars ago, people
the brain to adjust to new th ink ing processes . However, this process requires a huge amount of energy, which is why peop le feel mentally tired whenever they explore new things. Thi s may prevent one from exploring new things, as they lack the time or energy. For those who use their second language to learn new ideas
The first thing many international students find challenging when they start to write an essay what language to use. it is not as simple as describing something using English; you have to organise your language to match academic standards. Therefore, even when one can speak English fluently and communicate with others in daily life, it may be impossible to write a good essay. Vocabulary, sentence construction, grammar usage and paragraph layout: all of these are indispensable in an essay. In the English language in particular, there is a distinction between formal and informal discourse, whereby different vocabulary is appropriate in certain contexts; this may influence the quality of an essay, even though many words have the same or similar meanings. An essay is a paper that people write to di scuss an academic issue. In this paper, one needs to present some opinions, support these opinions by referring to literature, critically analyse this literature and come up with a conclusion. Thi s process requires a certain level of knowledge as well as
the ability to use language to present one's ideas to people. This means that the language barrier can prevent an international student from expressing them selves clearly. Inappropriate word choices may confuse or even change the meaning of a statement or even a whole essay, such are the intricacies of English . it is not easy to improve one's English, especially for academic purposes; it is a long process. Reading more books and professional essays is essential; besides the content and ideas that may be gleaned from reading, it is also possible to learn more about the construction of language and accumulate more vocabulary from it. Seeking help from professionals is also an effective choice. The Dean of Students' Office provides students free pre-booked one-to-one tutorial sessions for essay writing, which are especially helpful for academic writing.
The experience Fahd Shah
es pecially, there are extra barriers to overcome. But like everything else, if one can get past the difficult initial stag es, it will become increasingly natural to explore new ideas.
Do you want to write for us? We are always looking for student s to write for the Concrete International section. So, if you are interested in reporting news, cultural events, ideas of places that ought to be seen within the UK or wish to share any advice with our readers, feel free to email us at qingning.wang@uea.ac.uk. Equally if you have any questions we can answer in this space, don't be shy, just drop us an email!
Qingning Wang
There are a lot of challenges facing international students in the UK. One of the biggest challenges, beside those of study, is to search for work experience that relates to your study area, especially for final year students. The eco nomy wa s in tatters last ye ar, with a lot of bu si ne sses closing up or reducing the number of graduates they recruit. This ha s hit students on a lot of different level s. The working world has become more competitive as there have been fewer places available and students have found themselves competing against professionals who have been made redundant from their origiJ1al jobs. For international student s in particular, there are more restrictions on employment compared with
home
students;
for
example,
regulation states that as a student visa holder, one can only work up to 20 hours per week. There are other considerations such as language barriers and cultural differences. Also, international students need to be very aware of their rights lest they face discrimination at work . Seeking help from the University Careers Centre is always a good choice which will give students guides and suggestions. Another idea may be to continue into graduate study while the job market is still up in the air, helping you to improve your employability and think about and find work that interests you.
TRAVEL 17
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
concrete.travel@uea.ac.uk
Indian Adventure M a roe 'n' Steffan Taylor recounts his summer trip to India, how he negotiated the mountains as well as the problems that faced him along the way. Last summer I travelled to India on an adventure to see the solar eclipse, trek in the Himalayas and to explore the province of Kashmir. I travelled to Varanasi, in Western India. The utter chaos of the streets has you astounded: the vi brant colours, smells and noises awaken the senses. Cows, bulls and goats wander the narrow streets holding up traffic and it is not uncommon to see a family of five on a moped or beggars smoking opium! Soldiers hang AK-47s carelessly on their backs as they urinate casually in the street. One homeless lady begged with her snake dangling around her baby's neck! Thousands of people travelled to Varanasi to see the solar eclipse, many of whom were religious pilgrims. On the banks of the Ganges River, eclipse enthusiasts, religious pilgrims and news reporters stood shoulder to shoulder, so crowded that people were being pushed in the water. We were lucky enough to get a rowing boat, with a rower fighting the strong currents of the Ga nges to stay in the same place. lt was looking doubtful that we would be able to see the eclipse because of the monsoon clouds; but, 15 minutes before, the clouds parted the extraordinary event of the solar eclipse took place. The crowd
gasped as the sky blacked out for three minutes and four seconds . Prayers could be heard chanted . From Varanasi I travelled to Leh, a town in the far north of India in the Ladakh region of the Himalayas. Flying into the Leh military airport was a scary encounter. Leh has one of the most difficult landings which only the most skilled pilots fly: a close U-Turn around a mountain into a valley landing strip. Straightaway the altitude is noticeable. You are advised not to walk around the town as three days is needed to adjust to the altitude and 20 steps can have you panting for minutes.
"The utter chaos of the streets has you astounded ..." I did an eight day trek through the Zanskar and Markha valleys which amounted to 120Km. Here there were spectacular views of the Great Himalayan, Ladakh and Zanskar ranges. The trails wind past willow groves, alongside patches of wild roses and through pastel canyons. lt involved crossing two passes Stok La (4848m) and Kagmaru La (5274m - higher than Mont Blanc), which consisted of breathtaking views across the snow topped mountains of the largest mountain range in the world. Buddhist prayer flags fluttered at the tops of passes and wolf traps lay near the Ladakhi
village·s, a sour reminder of what type of animals lived nearby. The days are very hot a.nd the nights are cold, especially because of the altitude. My friend fell ill before the trek but he had his mind set on it and decided to join us on the second day; he arrived looking dreadful an d could only achieve a crawling pace. After three hours of walking through a rocky dried-up river bed in sweltering heat with no shade, his body gave in and he collapsed. Being a day's walk from the nearest phone and two days from medical help, this looked like a very dangerous situation. The gui de managed to take him back to a house on the trail six hours back, where he spent three days recovering from swine flu. After trekking we hired a driver and drove three days west into deep Kashmir to the city of Srinagar. Gradually the scenery changed from an arid landscape to rolling green hills. On dirt roads wrapped around the mountain sides with thousandplus feet drops, the sight of burned out trucks which had gone off the roads and rolled down was not a reassuring sight. Srinagar was very different to previous cities; it is mostly populated by Muslims and had little tourism . The war-torn province of Kashmir has been frequently featured in news headlines in the last decade and the British Home Office still advises not to travel there. The army is everywhere as a result of the disputed borders with Pakistan. I stayed on a very old house boat on Dal Lake; over 500 hundred house boats are scattered all over this beautiful lake and is nicknamed "Venice of the East".
I look behind me... waiting. Tick follow tock follow tick. My arms shoot into the water and paddle frantically. The board tips forward and I pounce on to it to catch the wave. 26 members of UEA Surf Club had arrived at Taghazout - a small fishing village on the west coast of Morocco. The temperature a hazy 28°C, the surf was a perfect introduction to the week, allowing everyone to catch a wave. The auberge where we stayed was an old four storey building which gave out onto the sea, and was decorated in a style that gave true testament to the laidback surfer lifestyle, mixed with Moroccan highlights. The top floor was dedicated as a tranquil terrace covered by a canopy with cushions and seating in abundance. We all slept soundly that first night, with the rolling sound of the sea rocking us gently to sleep. The screeching putter of fishing boats at 6am however was enough to wake you from the deepest slumber. To sedate our hunger t he au berge
Roll Tom Finch
served us various styles of cuisine, but most noticeably the Moroccan tagines and couscous, with their fiery spices, went down a treat. Morocco's coast enjoys some of the world's most consistent yearround surf and 330 days of sunshine, making it well known in the surfing community. The several beaches that we visited during our stay made up only a handful of those available. Onze was our most visited beach as it was great for both novices an ~ veterans and was mostly quiet. For the brave among us who ventured off for something bigger to paddle, Anchor Point, the " Holy Grail" of long curling right breaks, provided . Taghazout is cheap, easy to get to, and touristy, without sacrificing too much of its authenticity.
The Eternal City Gareth Rtts·Whlte Rome: supposedly the Eternal City, and for good reason . The numerous historical sites across the city are mostly in excellent condition, and as they are within walking distance of each other (and generally offer student discounts) no visitor has an excuse not to visit areas such as Palatine Hill, the Pantheon or the Colosseum. If you can afford the slightly higher entry fee, the Vatican City is unmissable, with the lengthy climb to the top of St Peters Basilica proving a particular highlight. Potential visitors should be warned that the Sistine Chapel isn't camera friendly, with the guards on a constant vigil against snap-happy tourists. Also be warned that during the winter Rome is bitterly cold, but is at least devoid of crowds . Conversely, during the summer the city is hot and thronging with tourists. As such, expect lengthy queues into anywhere from historical sites to ice-cream parlours. I have to say that the city lost much of its appeal in the summer, but as it was only a brief trip (a meagre eight-hour stop off a cruise), it would be unfair to judge.
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My first encounter with Rome coincided with my 18th birthday, leading to a sampling of the city's nightlife. As a general rule it is business as usual with the more tourist y districts, particularly the Trastevere, offering themed pubs and eateries promising authentic food at hiked up prices. Whilst there is nothing particularly wrong with this, with many bars located around a central square offering outdoor seating in the summer, when we visited in winter this was unavailable. We tended towards the more 'local' bars, offering the usual martinis and local beers, whilst featuring live acts most nights. Rome is a beautiful, historic city which I would recommend to all.
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18 FOOD
concrete.food09@gmail .com
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
lt used to be about the food!
Golden Apple Danie Hadley
Ed leftwich During the Easter holidays most students w ill have for lornly turned on the TV a few times. Many wonderful shows were on, but a few such as Heston Blumenthal's Feasts, really capture your attention. This .incredible show consists of Heston creating the weirdest and most wonderful meals for celebrities to 'enjoy'. About halfway through this programme two things are made clear. Firstly, that it's not a programme about food , but about ce lebrities' reacti ons and the crazy things Heston does to creat e his meals. Secondly, that it is therefore an almost entirely pointless exercise. Sure, it has entertainment value; watching people eat chicken testicles is funny. Calling Feast a food programme isastraightuplie. Heston Blumenthal ' 11!5 clea rly and demonstrably one of the most imaginative and talented chefs that has ever lived . So why are we watching celebrities reaction s to being fed te stic les instead of watching Heston share
his knowledge with the wider world? Not convinced? Just watch Masterchef. Here is a programme about ordinary people creating extraordinary food. Do we see how they do it? No, it focuses on the conflict between them, the mistakes they make and half the screen time seems to be contestants sitting on a couch waiting to be told they have failed . What about any of Gordon Ramsay's TV shows? All about him being an angry but charming chef, shouting at eve ryone, making them feel bad and the n slagging them off when they answer back. There is no real cooking know-how imparted, just ego stroking and dramatic TV. The flip side of the cooking coin is Delia, the Hairy Bikers and Nigella, with the "This is what we are going to make, now we are going to hold your hand through the whole process" format of cooking show. This style of show is endemic in British TV history, and sacrifices its thri lls and spills to offer good sol id advice. The most recent incarnation
of t his show is The Delicious Miss Doh/. Many people made much of how inappropriate M iss Dah l was in her cooking show; appa rently she wa s "too sexy". Thi s isn' t a new thing; Nigella became a sex icon through her cookery show as well as showing people how to actually cook food . Delia doesn't really get a look in these days as her severe matriarchal style no longer cuts it with modern audiences: food needs to be sexy to have ma instream appeal. So M iss Da hl practi ca lly faking an orgasm over her homemade fudge really does sell, makes good TV and is instructional. Yet she isn' t a real chef. Having a passion for food is great, but it doesn't qualify you for a Michelin star. Th e problem w ith Ramsay and Blumenthal is that they are no longer chefs, they are TV personalities, and it shows. Constantly competing amongst them selves, they have abandoned their restaurants in favo ur of fame, and the substance of their TV
( programmes reflects this. Ramsay's last attempt at explaining a recipe took a whole 30 seco nds, not exact ly a followable recipe. Food shows can no longer just be about the food , they have to have flair, whether it be swearing, or sex. There is of course a third element to this debate, which confirms this conclusion perfectly: Jamie Oliver. A man that has been on TV so constantly for the best part of a decade that he has almost become background noise. A ce lebrity and solid cook, hi s media presence ha s been so co nstant and so bo ring that I'm com pelled to stop writing entirely.
it 's mid April. The country is getting very excited , and so too, are Concrete. We're not t alking about the new se ries of Britain 's Got Talent- we' re on about the arrival of the longawaited sun . The parting of the dark English clouds to make way for those golden rays has left students across campus baring legs and shoul ders, adorning sunnies and hats- we've even seen flip flops! We are al l too aware that in this country, you need to grab every possible opportunity to snatch so me of that oh so rare sun and get it on our skin. A Golden Apple is the best drink to serve with this new wea t her front: a cinnamon twist to your favourite cider, we guarantee it will warm your insides as the sun brown s- or burns! - your legs. This drink can be served hot, although we suggest large amounts of ice. Get out there! lt may not last long!
What you'll need ... 25ml Goldsch lager Top with Cider
Grilled Pork Steaks Great Greek Salad Spicy Aubergine in Garlic BBQ Sauce with Apple Sauce Ingredients Ingredients J_ apples 1 teaspoon sugar Squirt of lemon juice (optional) 1 tablespoon of water 2 tablespoon s orange juice 2 teaspoons Dijon mu stard Pinch of dried thyme Pinch of dried sage 4 pork steaks
Method 1. Peel, core and cut the apples into rough small dice. Place
in a thick-based saucepan w ith all the remaining ingred ients. Cook, covered, on a medium to low heat with a lid on top for approximately 15 minutes. During the cooking time, stir to ensure even cooking. Once cooked and tender, with some of the apple starting to get mushy, remove from the heat. The apples can now be whi sked to a sauce consistency.
1 medium ripe tomato 200g ripe cherry tomatoes 1 beef tomato 1 medium red onion, pee led 1 cucum ber 1 green pepper Handfu l of fresh dill Handful of fresh mint leaves
Large handful of black olives, stoned Sea salt 1 tablespoon red win e vinega r 3 ta blespoo ns good-q uality Greek extra virgin olive oil 200g block of feta cheese 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Method 1. The key to a great salad is a mixture of different shapes and texture s. There is no point in cutting everything in the same way. So cut your medium tomato into wedges, halve the cherry tomatoes and slice the beef tom atoes . Put all the tomatoes into a large sa lad bow l. Slice the onion as thin ly as you possibly can, so t hey almost dissolve in your mouth, and add to the tomatoe s. Scratch a fork down the sides of the cucumber so it leaves deep grooves in the skin , then cut it into thick slices. De-seed your pepper, slice it into ring s and add them to the salad along w it h th e cucumber. 2. Roughly chop the dill and most of the mint leaves, but put the small mint leaves aside to beautify the salad at the end . Add th e chopped herbs to the bowl of salad, then squeeze your handful of olives over so they season the vegetables, then drop them in .
Ingredients 2 aubergin es, pee led and cut into st rips 1 green pepper, cut into strips 1 red pepper, cut into strips 160ml olive oil, divided in half 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, cru shed and chopped 1 teaspoon garlic, crushed and chopped 1/2 tablespoon hoisin 30g sugar 60ml rice vinegar
60m l chicken stock 120ml da rk soy sa uce 1 tablespoon vegetab le oil 3 tablespoons plain flour 2 table spoons water
Method 1. Place the aubergine and pepper strips in large bowl; pour half the olive oil over strips and toss to coat. The vegetables then need to go on the BBQ for 6-10 minutes, until cooked but not burning.
the steaks until done.
3. Add a pinch of salt, the vinegar and the extra virgin olive oil. Quickly toss everything together w ith your hands. Chop the feta into cubes and gent ly mix in with the salad. Sprinkle the oregano over the top, and add the mint leaves from earlier. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and se rve, the perfect accompaniment to any BBQ.
2. Meanwhile in small saucepan heat the rest of the olive oil over a low heat. Add ginger and garlic then cook for one minute until brown . Add hoisin sa uce and stir. Quickly add sugar, vin egar, chicken stock, dark soy sa uce and vegetab le oil. Bring to a bo il. Sti r fl our into water until dissolved. Add to sauce and sti r until thickened . Pour sauce over vegetables. Great vegetarian dish.
Wllly Carbuncl
Chrls PaJ)adopoll
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2. Prepare the barbecue for grilling. Mix together the orange juice an d apple sauce, t hen stir in the mustard, thyme and sage. 3. Bru sh the apple mixture over one side of the gammon steaks. Whack it on the BBQ for three minutes with the sauce side cooking. 4. Brush the top of the steaks with more mixture, turn over and grill for a further three minutes. Continue brushing and turning
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concrete.edltorlal@uea.ac.uk
IN FOCUS 19
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
Hair today, gone tomorrow This issue, Concrete Editor Hannah Livingston tells In Focus why she's shaving her head for Mind and what the charity does to help those with mental health problems.
Mental health shouldn't just be a consideration for people who suffer from serious mental disorders; at some point in your life you will suffer from intense emotional pain. This might be because of break-up, the death of someone close ' to you, or even coming to the end of your
degree and not knowing what to do, where to go or who you are. One in four people are likely to experience a mental health problem every year; you are not alone, and Mind is there to promote and protect good mental health. I' m raising money for Mind by shaving my head; it might seem a bit extreme but I hope that through doing it I can raise some money for this brill iant charity. I want to draw attention to the fact that mental health is just as important as physical health - the two work together - and yet funding for counselling and other psychological services is far less than that given to support people with physical ailments.
There's also a massive stigma attached to having a mental health problem that Mind and I fundamentally disagree with : 71% of people with mental health problems experience hate crimes, harassment or abuse in their communities. Mind's campaign 'Another Assault' seeks to combat this through extra training for police, increased responsibilities for health professionals and new government strategies. Mind supports people with mental health problems at every level in society: at a policy level they campaign to change outmoded laws and create new ones, for example they have successfully banned the use of Paroxetine on under 18s as the drug increased
the likelihood of self harm or suicide in that age group. As well as this, Mind can also give
"around 7,500 peo ple at UEA will be in some formof mental distress this year" help and advice on a personal level through their two free support lines: Mindinfoline: 0845 766 0163, and a legal advice service: 0845 225 9393. A lot of people who are
suffering from intense mental or emotional pain find it hard to get help, or even talk to someone, but if you are in distress don't be afraid to ask for help. lt is available, but you have to fight for it because resources are so scarce. For example, the statistics concerning people who seek help are quite shocking: around 300 people out of 1,000 will experience mental health problems every year in Britain, but only 230 of these will visit a GP. 102 of these will be diagnosed as having a mental health problem, 24 of these will be referred to a specialist psychiatric service and six will then become inpatients in psychiatric hospitals. Out of the original 300 people only 30 will get
some form of profession help. There are approximately 22,500 staff and students at UEA, so if you were to apply those statistics to our university it means that around 7,500 people at UEA will be in some form of mental distress this year alone. Even if you can only spare a few pounds please donate them at www.justgiving.com/ hannah-livingston and join my campaign 'Mind your Head' on Facebook. I' ll also be holding a bake sale next Thursday (29t lunchtime. The big de-hairing takes place on 30th April and there will be photos and videos posted on Facebook! Thanks in advance for your support.
UEA history student gets on his bike for Cystic Fibrosis
Be part of the ascendance of UEA Futsal
Ben Hall
Andrew Stead and Mark Roach
My name is Ben Hall, proud historian and keen cyclist, and this May I am setting out on a fundraising adventure to cycle the length of our fine and pleasant land, from Land's End in Cornwall to John O'Groats in Scotland, in aid of a fantastic charity based near my home: The Knight Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis. The foundation provides support and help for Cystic Fibrosis sufferers at the specialist Knight Centre at Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey. Cystic Fibrosis, which, amongst other symptoms, affects people's ability to breathe and fight infections, is one of the most common hereditary diseases around and has a severe affect on a sufferer's life expectancy. I am personally committed to the fight against CF because my own aunt, who passed away a few years ago, suffered from this disease throughout her life.
The ride itself will take about two weeks and covers a distance of around 1100 miles. If you would like to help improve the lives of those with CF, please show your support and help sustain the work done by tl:le Knight Foundation by
visiting my fund raising page at www.justgiving.com/cyclingben and giving anything you can . Even a small amount can help make a positive difference. Thanks for reading and good luck with your exams!
Futsal is a game originating from South America designed to test players' touch, passing ability, shooting and skills. The game is essentially five-a-side football, however, it uses a smaller and heavier ball. The goals are more squareshaped and the pitch uses touchlines as opposed to using the walls. Many of today's top professionals including Robinho, Ronaldinho and Deco learnt many of the skills they use today from Futsal. lt is a very energetic sport which is end to end, benefitting players' pace, agility and movement. Futsal at UEA welcomes players of all abilities, with a great social side on and off the pitch. We train on Wednesdays 5-6pm and Fridays 4-5pm. In addition, we run indoor sessions for the first team on Sundays. Having lost a large proportion of our squad from last year we have seen a lot of
new faces come in and they have done extremely well. We finished joint top of our regional qualifying group, winning four games and losing one. We then played our playoff for a place at the National Finals but were edged out 4-2 after extra time against Loughborough 1st Team. Although UEA lost Derby Day overall, the Futsal squad didn't disappoint, winning 7-5
in a thrilling end to end game. Futsal is a relatively new club at UEA and has seen quite a rapid growth in size. The club aims to expand its member count further as well as improve its performance in national competitions. For more information and to get involved please search for us on Face book or email a.stead@ uea.ac.uk .
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20 IN FOCUS
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
concrete.editorial@uea .ac .uk
Grand Prix raises over £3500 for EACH The sharp-eyed among you may remember reading about Oily Larkin and Claire Ballam's charity Grand Prix a few issues back. Greg Mann reports that it turned out to be very successful. Last Sunday the sound of gokart engines reverberated ,..,., rough the air as El lough Park Raceway , near Becc les, played host to the EACH Grand Prix 2010 in aid of East Anglian Children's Hospices. is the fourth Thi s consecutive year that event
organisers
Oily
Larkin,
a
seco nd year FTV stud ent, and hi s fiancee Claire Ba llam have held the charity event and participation levels were at their high est yet. In all, over 60 people donned helm ets and race suits and provided superb entertainment for the
watching family and friends. The day was sepa rated into two hour-long endurance race s, with fri ends hip and fam ily groups taking part first and team s put together by local bu sinesses competing second. The best ten teams from each race then went head-to- head in a final decider. The te am 'Anyway up 69' were eventually victorious and stood on top of the podium to claim th e trophy. Th e previous year's event raised ju st over £1,500, but thi s year the efforts of everyone who took part saw a ma ssive £3,500 raise d. This amount is still rising and every penny of it will go straight to EACH. As the event drew to a close, a smiling Mr Larkin sa id, "We were expecting to beat la st yea r's total, but not by this mu ch. We are absolutely
del ighted."
M s Ballam later
adde~ ,
"When I counted up all the money I got a lump in my throat, knowing how th at money can help people." In previous years th e event has suppo rted charities including Cancer Research UK and the East Anglian Air Ambu lance . Mr Larkin commented on this year 's chari ty, " We chose to support EACH this time because it is a very worthy loca l charity and one whose work deserves to be recognised." Despite being a full -time student, Oily manages to find time to organise these events, as he "fee ls a need to help the vulnerable of society, even if it does mean sacrificing some time ." He is a keen karter himself, being a past junior champion at the Grand Prix venue in Suffolk and is
interested in getting more UEA students involved: "I wou ld love to get an amateur event up and running for the students of UEA, espec ially when various schools compete for victory." If you are interested in karting, willing to learn, or if you want to know more information about the EACH
Grand Prix 2010, please contact O.Larkin@uea .ac. uk. The organisers would like to thank everyone who helped on the day and also those local businesses who provided the trophies and prizes for the tombola and finally Ellough Park Raceway for stag ing the event.
Saturday 5th june
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ueastudent.com & off;~t!im~s & prices visit er grou~ on facebook
on sale online Su day 25th April on sale at the Box Office o ay 6th A ril un1on •
or UE~ stuoutTS
concrete.lifestyle@uea.ac.uk
Confessions of aV~Jl
student There are lots of reasons why UEA is beautifully unique ... Keri Dickens shares with us some of her favourite wonders.
'Oh UEA, oh UEA, oh UEA is wooonderfuuul. ..'. Yes, there are many things about UEA that make it a good place to be. Yet often it is the little things that UEA students rejoice in, whether it's the Telegraph and Cadbury's chocolate stand or the £3 vodka Red Bulls. For a start the various eateries are certainly worth mentioning. I can't think of a better way to begin or end a lecture than with a smoothie (or sticky toffee pudding frappe in my case) from the Hive. And maybe even a generous slice of their chocolate, banana or carrot cake if you ·are feeling particularly indulgent. Then there is Zest; standard homely grub, lots of it and at a cheap price - their salads are particularly tasty. But it has to be said that I can't resist Blend's meal deal, combining McCoys, coke and a panino for just £3.45. Oh and there is always the Union pub if you've had a stressful day and want to exchange that coke for a glass of wine. The thing that gets me most about UEA, though, has to be the LCR. In no other club or bar would you feel so alien being 100% sober, and in fact even SO% sober. When you walk around the LCR it is rare to find someone not enjoying themselves, and before long you stop caring how wasted you look as there is always somebody in a worse state. The drinks stand, as well as the burger van and the new pizza stall all add to that special UEA club night experience. The old-school music in the main room isn't bad, but the dirty grime, RnB and dubstep in the Hive is what does it for me. Yes, UEA, you are wonderful.
LIFESTYLE 21
TUESDAY 20th April 2010
Sleep your way to exam success Sa m Lewis looks into the volatile sleeping schedule .of a student and discovers whether getting a few more Z's each night could boost your exam results this summer. Food for the brain, sleep is not only wonderful but highly crucial to the way the body functions. Most teenagers can't get enough of it and it is not uncommon that students develop some pretty strange sleeping patterns. After recently reading an article about a school in Tyneside who decided to give their students an extra hour in bed, it got me thinking: could there really be a correlation between sleep and good academic performance? Teenagers have a biological predisposition to go to bed late and get up late. lt has become a bit of a joke in my house that I rarely surface before mid-day, and produce my best work in the early hours of the morning. Scientific research actually proves that teenagers don't begin to properly function until lOam, a whole 2-4 hours later than adults. lt is suggested that this routine will continue until the age of 21, conveniently allowing us to adapt to the 9-5 working week once we graduate. The recommended amount of sleep for a student is anywhere
between 8.5-9.25 hours, and anything less is likely to cause irritability and poor concentration. We all know that feeling of struggling to keep your eyes open whilst nestled into your chair at the back of the lecture theatre. The National Sleep Foundation found that the average university student receives only 6.8 hours per night, so it is not surprising that daytime drowsiness is widespread around campus. However, whilst not getting enough sleep will prevent you from being at your intellectual best, over sleeping can be hugely detrimental. This can slow down your metabolism and leaves you feeling particularly lethargic. lt is also not just about getting the right amount of sleep but also about the right type of sleep. During the night it is necessary to experience varying kinds, from the lighter Rapid Eye Movement (REM) where most dreaming occurs, to a level of deeper sleep. Alcohol severely disrupts this sleeping cycle and whilst it may seem like you have a decent kip after your head hits the pillow from
a night out, it actually hinders the quality of sleep. The notion of a 'night cap' therefore is probably not the best cure for a case of insomnia. So this is all very well, but with dissertation anxiety, looming exams and hectic night time activity, how are we meant to ensure we are getting enough shut eye? Personally I am a big fan of afternoon napping. A 20-25 minute snooze prevents brain activity from declining throughout the day and provides a new release of energy. Living on campus is great for nipping back to your room for a cheeky cat nap before the next lecture begins. At all costs sleep should not be sacrificed, especially during the exam period. The next time you are faced
with the 'should I go to bed or stay up and revise' decision, remember it is going to be twice as hard and ultimately less effective to absorb information when feeling fatigued . Another handy tip to bear in mind is to establish a definite distinction between work and relaxation ar ~;; studying in bed makes it far too tempting to drift off. The Tyneside experiment unfortunately hasn't tapped into the secret of exam success, but I certainly praise them for generously rewarding their students with a lovely lie in. One thing is for sure however; I no longer feel guilty about my indulgent snoozing -I'm not lazy, it's biological!
Scent-sational: 201 0 spring fragrances •
Vicki Wheatland has sniffed out the best new fragrances for those sunny spring days.
Spring has finally arrived. Wave goodbye to winter and welcome sunshine, garden parties and, most importantly, more skin on show. To keep you smelling gorgeous and to put a 'spring' in your step (apologies already for the pun!), Concrete has scoured and rated this season's fragrances for men and women. From sweet and light, to floral and fruity, let the smells of summer commence. FOR WOMEN SJPNYC Sarah Jessica Parker's scent-sational (sorry, again!) interpretation of her 'Sex and the City' character Carrie Bradshaw. Floral with hints of Honeysuckle and white Osmanthus, yet also deliciously sweet with the addition of wild strawberries. SJP's new fragrance oozes freshness and packaged in a wild funky bottle, this
beauty will brighten up you and your shelf. Concrete Rating: **** DKNY Ripe Raspberry Candy Apple Pair up crunchy green apples and tangy raspberries with sweet lilies and tart lime, splash in some coca cola and you are left with the most hyperactive addition to the DKNY apple perfume range. This juicy treat is sure to satisfy the most demanding of sugar cravings, reminding me of candyfloss when dry. If only it was edible. Concrete Rating:*** Gucci Flora This aroma is sophisticated and alluring. With notes of sandalwood, peony, rose, patchouli, and citrus, Gucci have expanded upon the original Flora scent to create a smell that is sensually seductive. "I think it
will still appeal to our Flora customer but now she has the choice of whether she wants to keep her scent light and easy or a bit more rich and dramatic for evening," said Frida Giannini, creative director for Gucci. A spring essential - show me where to buy this immediately! Concrete Rating: Favourite***** FOR MEN Guerlain Vetiver A fresh, lighter version of Guerlain's original Vetiver, the newly released adaptation is perfect for the hot summer months to follow. Woody: Tick. Fresh: Tick. Masculine: Tick. Hypnotically and irresistibly sexy: Tick Tick Tick! This provocative aphrodisiac will send any woman's heart racing. Beware, it may just have that 'Lynx effect'. Concrete Rating: ****
Paul Smith Sunshine Edition With top notes of grapefruit, coriander leaves and black pepper, this scent is certainly zingy. The beautiful multicoloured glass bottle is the perfect way to put you in an up-beat mood. Guaranteed to leave you focused, fresh and ready to face the day. Get it quickly, available for a limited time only. Concrete Rating: **** Marc Jacobs Men A highly exotic fragrance with tones of Italian Bergamot, Tuscan Cypress, Indian Cardamom and British Woodland. Rich colourful aromas combine to create a deep and yet fresh spritz. Like Guerlain, if you are looking for a fragrance that will make women stop in their tracks, find Marc Jacobs Men. Truly heavenly. < Concrete Rating: Buy buy buy* ****
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22 SPORT
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
Canary Corner Ben Frith
Norwich City have bounced straight back to the Championship following a 1-0 victory away to Charlton. Defe nd er Michael Nelson sco red the only goa l of the game to give the Canaries the three points that were needed to ensure they could no longer be caught by promotion chasers Swindon and Millwall.
Norwich's Easter performances were general ly comfo rt ab le, but by no means spectacu lar. Defeats at Tranmere and Leyton Orient had some fans questioning whether Norwich could see their well -earned points advantage slip away. Following last weekend 's promotion, however, the nightmare of the first day of the season now seems like a distant memory. Norwi ch ~~~re very lat e out of th e blocks, but under the management of Paul Lam bert th ey managed to perform time and time again. Holding on to Lambert wi ll now be crucial as the Scottish manager has a history of leaving clubs on a high, and the vacancy at his former club Celtic could tempt Lambert to seek a new challenge . Lambert has indicated that he is more than happy to remain where
First and foremost, Norwich will surely face difficulty in recruiting the se rvi ces of first-choice goalkeeper Fraser Forster for anot her season. Th e Newcastle loanee has a bright future ahea d of him and will be hoping to de-throne Steve Harper at his parent club. Current backup keeper Declan Rudd will hope to make a claim to the number one shirt, although the nineteen year old may not be ready for the Championship just yet. Fabio Cape llo has been keeping tabs on Peterborough keeper and former Norwich youngster Joe Lewis, who may well be tempted to return to his boyhood club now that The Posh have been relegated. Norwich may also want to secure the se rvi ces of a proven Champion ship goal scorer. Grant Holt may have sco red thirty goals this seaso n, but he has only played four games in the second tier, while on loan at Blackpool in 2008. Pressure will be on Chris Martin to continue his recent form at the next level. If Chris M artin is given the opportunity to front the Norwich line next season, and st arts the season positively, there is every chance that he co uld be one of the league's hottest properties.
just about the right mixture of youth and experience. However, th ere are a few positio ns th at might need to be a~dressed before the new campaign.
5 Minutes with: Simeon Williamson Alech i Nduka and Danny Collins talk Usain Bolt, the Olympics and BUCS with the British Olympic sprinter, who ranked second only to Dwain Chambers in the 1OOm last year. GB sprinte r Simeon Wil liamson is no stranger to BUCS competition. The former Middlesex stud ent took 60m gold at the 2007 Indoor Athletics Championship under its former guise of BUSA. Will iamson has come a long way sin ce th en - a ranking of fifth in the alltim e British lOOm rankings has seen him com pete at the Beijing Olympics. However, the BUCS Championships still holds fond memories for Williamson, as he tell s Concrete Sport in Sheffie ld . "The Championships have more of an international feel now than when I was competing, it's good . it's great that you can study, and then still come to a competition as big as this, and on top of that have a gre at team spirit. I'm here to watch this time. it's quite weird to be watching as opposed to com peting." Willi amso n continued, " Not all athletes get to compete at a national level, so it's good th at championships such as this give university athletes the chance to experience this level of competition. For the elite athletes out there this is a stepping stone to the World University Games and com petitions such as t hat. William so n believes the university system has helped him develop as both an athlete and a stud ent, as he explains: "I only lived two minutes from Middlesex, it was idea l. lt helped me a lot with my training and with my
education ." As a glowing example of a success story for the University, the sp rinter has plenty of .advice to offer th e aspiri ng sues champ ions of tomorrow. "The BUCS Indoors really is a stepping stone to greater things. If you're lucky enough to go to th e World University Games, it's very similar to the Commonwealth and Olympics Games. The experience you can gain can really make you a better athlete ." The rise of Usain Bolt has given the sport of athletics a much-needed boost, and Williamson has had the pleasure of witnessing the sporti ng phenome non first han d. A training camp in Jamaica last year, where he trained alongside nam es such as Asafa Powell and Bolt, proved so helpful th at
the Londoner went back during the winter. " I trained with Usain's Bolt coach for three months. That was very, very good, training wi th the fastest guy in th e world - you can' t really ask for much more than that in training! The training out there was quite similar to what I do at home, but the big difference was the weather; that really helped." Williamson also set out his plans for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi later in the year, telling Concrete : " I don' t know if I' ll actually go and do the lOOm in Delhi or just concentrate on the relay. Right now my mind is definitely on the relay, but depending on wh at shape I' m in when the Com monwea lth's co me round th en I may go for th e individual."
MEN'S FOOTBALL LOSE OUT TO ESSEX Mark Roach
he is for now, but Norwich fans might not be able to relax until he steps into the dugout on day one of the 2010/11 season. Now the em ph as is will turn to building a sq uad rea dy to co mpet e next season. Fans will be hopin g th at th ey ca n hold their own in th e Championship, and of co urse fini sh above Ipswi ch; the bitter loca l derby ha s been sorely missed this season, even if Norwich have managed to make a new enemy in Colchester United . The current squad should be able to cope with the step up, containing
concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk
For now though, Norwich fans ca n sim ply enjoy the last three games of the season. A party atmosphere is guaranteed at Carrow Road this coming Saturday for the visit of Gillingham. Only a point is required to mathematically secure the title, which would be a perfect memento of th e dramatic year they spent in League One.
The outcome to this year's Derby Day wa s disappointing for UEA M en's Football. After completing the double over Essex in 2009, the teams fe lt confident of getting a resu lt; however, it wa sn't to be . In a reverse of la st yea r's fixtures, it was the 1st XI who kicked off early in wet and blu stery conditions that seemed to favour the home side, wh o enjoyed pumping the ball forward to a stron g and powerful front line . The first chance of the game came from UEA wh en Chris Gunn latched onto a through ball, st ri king it over the advancing keeper but only to see his effort cannon off th e undersi de of the crossbar an d back
out into play. The rest of the first half remained fairly even and a smart save from Dan Porter ensured the sides went in level at the break. The second half was more of the same as the Yellows played the better football, with Nick Hea p and M att Howard go ing close. lt was Essex thou gh who made the breakthrough wh en, on 83 minutes, a long cross from deep wa s sw un g into the box and the Essex st riker, who had been well marked throughout the game, managed to find himself the little bit of space he needed to head home. As U EA pushed for a last gasp goal, they could not break through the Essex defence and can look back on the game knowing that th ey performed well and on anot her day thin gs might have go ne their way. In the 3pm kick off, two early
goals from Essex were enough to defeat U EA's 2nd XI despite a spirited second half performance wh ere the Yellows created numerous cha nces . UEA M en's Football will look forward to next year at Colney Lane where they will get the chance to respo nd to thi s yea r 's defeats .
Jl
concrete.sport@uea.ac.uk
SPORT 23
TUESDAY 20th APRIL 2010
DERBY DAY 2010: ESSEX 30- 15 UEA WOMEN'S RUGBY HUMBLED BY ESSEX
FUTSAL VICTORY ENDS DERBY DAY 2010 ON HIGH NOTE Andrew Stead
Derby Day's habit of producing a home victory in recent years proved true again as Essex stormed to a 3015 victory over UEA in Colchester last month. The loss sees UEA's lead cut to 7-3, with the last five contests going the way of the host. Over 800 competitors, spectators
and coaches travelled to Colchester for the annual multi-event competition. The highlight of the day was the keenly contested boxing competition. UEA were never ahead in a tough contest, being 2-0 down before competition started due to withdrawals.
HOCKEY THRASH ESSEX Tom Ross
UEA Men's Hockey recorded a thumping 7-0 defeat of their Essex rivals in Colchester on Derby Day. UEA knew they would have to be on top form to beat UEHC on their home turf, something they had not done since 2004. As ever, the match proved a physical and enduring encounter between both sides. After a few green cards were awarded by the umpires for several physical encounters in the first ten minutes, the game settled down. The away side broke the deadlock when captain James Fanger burst through the Essex midfield, soaring past two defenders creating a clear shot on goal. UEA continued to pressure their opponents, forcing them to commit several fouls and give UEA several short corners. Tim Jones struck both short corners into the backboard confidently, and gave UEA a more comforting 3-0 lead going into half time. UEA were determined to win in style during the second half, with
the defence endeavouring to retain a clean sheet and the attack pushing forward seeking more goals. Sam Walton, Tim Jones and Ali Smyth absorbed all of Essex's offerings going forward, and even after conceding several short corners, goalkeeper Tom Palmer prevented the ball from going near the goal. An Essex drag-flicker sent the ball goalbound but a sublime save from Pal mer that tipped the ball onto the crossbar silenced the home crowd. Half-backs Cameron Hanwell, Barnie Abraham, and Simon Hammond provided outlets for the defence ·and lead the counter-attacks that saw UEA walk the second half. As Essex pushed for a goal and started to tire, UEA struck back, and not long into the second half Adam Wedlake popped up at the back post to slot in a fourth. Alec letter scored two volleys midway into the second half, encouraging Essex heads to drop even lower. Joe Broadbent exploited the defence and came close on several 9ccasions, but the seventh goal fell to Oliver Ruffle after he met a searching pass from one end of the field to the other, running around the keeper before put the game beyond all doubt.
UEA Futsal were the last team to compete on Derby Day, and knowing that the overall result was beyond their control, they still had to play to a narrow the deficit. They were dealt a massive blow in the warm up when goalkeeper Dan Welch suffered a dislocated finger that ended his Derby Day. UEA started strongly but the game saw a sizeable stoppage when one of Essex's defenders dislocated his knee. After a few early chances, Emmett Rowe gave the visitors the lead, firing into the bottom corner; however, against the run of play Essex were soon level. This sprung UEA into action and they re-took the lead shortly after when Chris Gunn beat the keeper. Essex used an extremely wide pitch to their advantage and equalised again with a well worked
Essex University beat Derby Day rivals U EA 15-5 in last month's closely goal. Gunn then scored his second · matched fixture in Colchester. UEA were full of confidence at th of the evening and with lain Stark, Aman Rai, Steve Camp and Josh starting whistle, with a convincing Scarrott all driving forward from the Derby Day record from the past two back, UEA were unable to fashion years still fresh in their memories. a clear cut opportunity. Essex However, their confidence was short weathered the storm and equalised lived as the visitors struggled to find a route through the stubborn Essex just before the break. Buoyed with their superb defence. The away side continued to hold support, UEA took the lead for the fourth time when Sean Lilley broke Essex on the back foot for much of and fired into the top corner. The U's the opening half. The first break were once again unable to hold onto came as UEA's defence was unable a slender lead and with time running to hold back the powerful Essex . out, conceded a quick fire double. backs and they found themselves Ross Baxter kept UEA in it with some trailing 10-0 at half time. crucial saves. UEA came back fighting after t~ The battling visitors huffed and break and dominated possession . puffed but seemed unable to break Their hard work was finally down a resilient Essex back line converted into points -after some before Gunn fired in for his hat trick. smart backs play led to winger Rhian Both sides had chances, before Claydon sealing the five points . The celebrations did not last two breakaways led to Gunn score his fourth and fifth of the evening, long for the visitors as captain and rounding off a superb individual fly-half Nicola Kaciubskyj was forced performance and a man of the to retire to the side lines with a match award to go with it. shoulder injury. UEA held a strong defensive line but an individual Essex performance from full-back Kerry Jacks proved too strong for the away defence. The home side went 15-5 up with just ten minutes left on the clock, and UEA were unable claw back the deficit. Lucy Bowers
ATHLETICS VICTORIOUS UEA's Athletics team stormed through difficult conditions on Derby Day to take a comprehensive victory over their arch-rivals, the University of Essex. Richard Henderson led home Nick Earl in the 3000m in the first triumph of the day, which was shortly followed by a win for Greg Pollard in the lOOm, who was closely followed by Alechi Nduka. Nduka then took the 200m ahead of teammate Danny Coli ins. Meanwhile, in the field events, Matthew Hitchiner launched the javelin miles further than any of his Essex counterparts to take the spoils with a throw of over 56m. Ruth McKellar was UEA's stand-out female performer, taking a hat-trick of runner-up finishes in the lOOm, 200m and 400m. Emily Neilan triumphed in the 3000m, whilst Louise Owen won the javelin. The string of convincing performances ensured UEA secured a comfortable 1-0 victory in the Athletics. Steven Castelli~
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