University College London

The Investment Committee of UCL has announced that it will divest its remaining £440,000 of shares in arms company Cobham plc after pressure from the student campaign group DisarmUCL. DisarmUCL was founded in 2006 and in 2007 the group wrote an ethical investment proposal which led to the establishment of the Ethical Investment Review Committee. The Campaign Against Arms Trade told the London Student that it was “wholly inappropriate for an institution run for the public good to have any links to this deadly business” and it was “thrilled” with the news.

 

Oxford University

Student Demetrios Samouris has been fined £80 for dropping an extinguished matchstick on the streets of Oxford. He was spotted by a council environmental enforcement warden during a zero tolerance litter patrol. The fine and the patrol are a result of the city council’s “Cleaner Greener Oxford” initiative. Nonetheless, Samouris described the fine as harsh. However, Natalie Hughes, the council’s environmental enforcement officer, told the Telegraph: “We need to change attitudes... They just don’t think what they are doing is wrong. That is exactly what we are trying to address”. City council chief executive Peter Sloman added that this campaign is not a one-off.

 

University of Vienna

The biggest student protests for decades are underway across Europe (below).  They began three weeks ago in Vienna after the Austrian Minister for Knowledge and Research told universities to make savings because there has been too large an increase in the number of students at Austrian universities.  Students at the University of Vienna occupied a lecture hall in protest against the ‘marketisation of education’. Students prepared a list of demands, putting on a programme of talks and performances and maintaining a huge web presence through blogging and Twitter.  The movement known as ‘Unibrennt’ (the university is burning) is now spreading, with occupations at thirty-four universities across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Poland to date.

Hanna Weibye

 

University of St. Andrews

Last Friday, Alex Wilson, a first year student studying French and Spanish at the University of St Andrews, died after falling off a 60 foot cliff. The student is understood to be the fifth person to die at this spot in recent years. Wilson and a friend were taking a shortcut to a bonfire party on Castle Sands beach. His body was found washed up on the shore near the St Andrews Sea Life Centre shortly after. In public announcements, the university described Wilson as a bright and popular student, much loved by his family and friends. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) has advocated the need for measures to raise awareness of the cliffs in the area among the university’s students.

 

Southampton Solent University

Southampton-born Radio 1 DJ, Scott Mills, lined up alongside graduating students in Southampton Guildhall last week to receive his honorary Doctor of Arts. Having left school aged 16 with only a handful of GCSEs to become the youngest ever commercial radio presenter, the university presented him with the degree for his services to broadcasting. By picking up the honorary degree from Southampton Solent, Mills is following in the footsteps of Craig David, Shane Warne, Fiona Phillips and Charlie Dimmock.

Josie Filmer