When journeying back into the Concrete archive, it’s very difficult to not exclusively select issues from the 90s. With the tabloid headers, quippy adverts and the strange amount of arts and crafts features, it truly is a gold mine of material to write about. In the years that followed Concrete began to develop into the broadsheet-styled paper that you’re reading today, maintaining a good grasp on relevant news stories, but leaving behind a wealth of… well a lot of puns.  However, this change didn’t happen overnight. The issue that I’ve chosen this month is from July 2007 and is a paper that, although essentially isn’t a tabloid, manages to still incorporate such articles as ‘UEA’s Poster Boy’, ‘LCR Mania’ and ‘Spam Spam Spam, Lovely Spam, Wonderful Spam… Or Maybe Not’. So let’s have a look at this period of transition together and see what UEA was up to in 2007. 

Possibly the most eye-opening section of the paper is what was named ‘The Concrete Housing Guide’, with it featuring a brightly coloured title page, filled with elaborate door knockers in the shapes of lion and horse heads. I have to say this isn’t a common occurrence on student houses where I live, but perhaps you’re all living it up in Earlham? Perhaps the Concrete housing guide can tell me where to find such houses? Sadly this was not the case. However it did try to give me a bit of insight into what type of students I should be living with. ‘In a house of girls, it is often good to have a token boy’. Apparently, the main reason for this was to ‘seek’ his advice on other men. The way it’s put does make it sound like living with a sort of oracle, which I think I can testify against. Still, there is a good bit of useful information on deposits and landlords, as well as the best places to live. All in all a useful article if you take some parts with a pinch of salt! 

Particularly poignant to current student life, was an article on campaigning in SU elections. Following the story of a student and her campaign to become a part-time officer, the reader is given a glimpse into what she states is an ‘exhausting’ but ‘profound’ process.  She speaks on manifestos, publicity and talking to strangers with great enthusiasm, claiming ‘I learnt so much’. She also mentions that ‘[I] enjoyed going to Union Council’, which I’m sure must have been a misprint… Still, it’s a fascinating little case study and one that doesn’t seem too dissimilar to today. 

Now I understand that it would be completely unfair of me to have previously brought up the article ‘and ‘Spam Spam Spam, Lovely Spam, Wonderful Spam… Or Maybe Not’ and leave you forever in the dark about what exactly it was about. Well, I’m sorry to tell you that it was it was nothing more than a short piece on spam mail. Regardless, if you’re passionate about junk emails and would like to read the article or any other in the Concrete archive, feel free to reach out to us! We have such a vast, funny and interesting collection and it’s so much better that they’re read than enjoyed than hidden out of sight. 

And here concludes our little detour into student life in 2007, the good, the bad and the slightly puzzling. Anyway, until next time…