For this issue we’re going to be looking back to the first issue of the 1970s Concrete, which turned 50 on 8th November! The top segment of the front page outlined the new paper’s mission statement, stating that “This is the students’ newspaper. Our pages are open to all who wish to contribute. Our editorial policy will not be to block freedom of expression… Our main job is to report the news, and the reporting of opinions not necessarily of our own.” Ironically, this is followed up by some light-hearted political infighting between the editorial team (who seem to have had a flat structure rather than being led by one editor).
The other story on the front-page seems to be a joke pretending that Princess Anne would be taking a break from her royal duties to support the upcoming NUS Day of Action campaigning for the raising of student grants, when in reality she was doing so to marry Mark Phillips. It is a strange first front-page story which took me a little while to decipher!
Inside the writers turn to actual news, with the focus being on union and university activities, such as the report that one accommodation’s residents’ court would be convened to deal with “a girl who frequently screams in the early hours of the morning,” and someone “who was caught discharging a fire extinguisher.” Elsewhere, a bar in the Village (then containing academic facilities) was to be closed at lunchtime due to low takings, Open Days were to be reduced to once every two years (a stark contrast to the four-a-year we have now!) and the University Senate had passed regulations on excessive noise in the Square during the day. There was also a reviews page, including an excellently written review of the Cinderella ballet at the Theatre Royal by Peter Harris.
As today in Venue, there was also a What’s On page. Events that week included an Env Soc open lecture on climate change, a disco in the LCR with a 10p entry fee, meetings of the Taekwondo Club and Poetry Soc, and lunchtime programmes in Union House from the student TV station, NEXUS.
As today, the paper concluded with a Sport section, providing the latest news and results from UEA’s teams. Overall Concrete may be very different now, but some things never change!
(With thanks to the UEA Archives for providing access to the issue.)
Image supplied by UEA Archives
Find out more about the 1970s Concrete here!
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