For this month’s dip into the archive, we’re looking at the February 2003 issue. The front page catches our eye quickly, with the bold tabloid-like font saying ‘FORCED OUT’. The story this relates to is a sit-down protest by students living in the village. They chose to take dire measures, in the form of an outdoor common room, after the university had failed to provide them with such amenities, despite common rooms being available to those in Nelson Court and Constable Terrace. Edward Longmate, the leader, said that ‘the University Village doesn’t have a common room and with it being so far from campus it is fair to say that out of all the residences, the Village is one of the most obvious in need of one!’ However, all their plans fell flat as the then Director of Residences said such a common room would not be possible.

For an issue published almost exactly 21 years ago, many articles seem ‘cheugy’ or outdated. A clear example of this can be found on page 13 with some fashion recommendations for the avid Concrete reader. From suggestions of sweatbands being high fashion to the trendy emo fringes on half the models, it is clear that time has passed since this issue was released.

However, no matter the decade, some things never change. In an article titled ‘Pigeon- Holed’, some of the UEA schools have been stereotyped into a neat 300 words each. From SOC (politics, economics and philosophy) students being described as ‘frightful bores’ to HIS being cornered as ‘an inoffensive bunch’. Found on page 10, the article still rings true to many a UEA student. It also features a matching cartoonish drawing for four of the six stereotypes, something that was commonly found throughout the paper during the 2002-2003 running of Concrete!

In a section labelled ‘UEA Years’, the editors trawled through previous archives. Highlighted stories include 4 women being elected to SU officer positions for the first time in 1993, two UEA students who had been attacked by local teens in 1998, and the passing of ENV Professor Ian Langford just the year before in 2002.

The paper also came with a housing guide for all interested students. The pull-out covered important topics: group size, location, what to do if you experience a burglary and even a celebrity flat-share game! The guide also sought to provide some solace to stressed out students via words of wisdom from a lecturer, the bar’s manager and both the international and finance officer. My favourite top tip included checking ‘that when the woman next door has an orgasm it doesn’t sound like Norwich FC just scored.’ Thank you, Prof Raymond!

An advert on the second to last page of the guide shows some approximate pricing of houses available. A 4-bed house on Bury Street, cost £47.30 per person per week, roughly £82.27 today. Prices which seem rather idealistic to UEA students today!

Editor: Katie Hind

Click here to view Issue 149 and here to view the housing guide in full!