Strike will follow union marriage
A year from now, on June 1 2006, Natfhe and the Association of University Teachers will merge. The new union will immediately lead further education lecturers out on their first national strike for years. Both these decisions came out of Natfhe's annual conference last week. The merger will only be stopped if the members of either union vote against it in ballots later this year, which is very unlikely. The strike can only be prevented by something even more unlikely: a decision by the government that when the Association of Colleges agrees on a pay deal with the unions, all colleges actually pay what has been decided.
The Guardian
Cambridge attacks Executive move to repel 'fee refugees'
The vice-chancellor of Cambridge University has poured scorn on the Scottish Executive's attempts to prevent a flood of "fee refugees" heading north. Professor Alison Richard said that tuition fees should not be used as "defensive weapons", and she insisted students did not consider only the financial cost when choosing their courses. Jim Wallace, the enterprise and lifelong learning minister, announced last year that people from England studying at Scottish universities would have their fees increased by up to £700 a year in an effort to limit the number coming here in search of cheaper courses.
The Scotsman
'Urgent investment' needed in clinical academics
The heads of the UK's medical and dental schools are calling for urgent investment in the sector to stem the continued decline in clinical academics. A survey conducted by the Council of Heads of Medical Schools and the Council of Heads and Deans of Dental Schools, published yesterday, found that the number of clinical academics fell from 3,617 to 3,555 between 2003 and 2004. The survey reported a worrying decline in the number of academics teaching specialities such as pathology, psychiatry, anaesthesia and surgery, which the medical bodies say are now under "considerable threat".
The Guardian
500 held as students protest at election
Police surrounded Ethiopia's largest university yesterday and arrested hundreds of students who defied a government ban and protested against the results of the country's disputed legislative elections. Police charged into crowds at Addis Ababa University to grab protesters and beat some with batons during the first public protest against the elections held on 15 May.
The Scotsman
Degree for grand prix winner angers Italy's academics
Standing on the podium at the Italian grand prix, the world motorcycle champion Valentino Rossi, proudly wore a mortarboard, emblazoned with a sponsor's logo. Having just been awarded an honorary university degree, the 26-year-old felt entitled to put on his new hat last weekend. But the decision - and the prominently displayed emblem - led yesterday to demands for an end to the liberal distribution of honorary awards, which, critics say, have been completely devalued.
The Guardian
Lab901 sells first fast DNA analyser
Lab901, a Scottish start-up company, has shipped the first of its pioneering ScreenTape systems, which allows DNA molecules to be analysed in minutes rather than hours. The first system has been delivered to the Scottish Centre for Genomic Technology and Informatics at Edinburgh University, just a few days after Lab901 received £1 million from its third round of private equity funding.
The Financial Times
Scheme to help Indonesian academics
Thirteen UK universities, including Cambridge, Birmingham and Leeds, have joined forces to offer staff at two universities in Indonesia the chance to train in Britain for a year. Each university in the British universities' scholarship scheme for higher education will pay the fees and living costs of one junior member of staff from the Institut Agama Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry and Universitas Syiah Kuala in Banda Aceh, which will allow them to study for a year-long masters degree.
The Guardian
UK scientists announce massive shopping list
The UK's eight leading research councils have published a huge shopping list for British scientists over the next three years. On it is a £40 million research ship and an animal health laboratory to guard against diseases like foot and mouth. The research councils also hope to achieve more coordination and work across subject boundaries, getting better value for their money which is due to rise to more than £3 billion a year by 2007-08.
The Guardian, The Times Higher Education Supplement (June 3)
Wrist tag that makes you more productive at work
“Battery farm” workplaces are springing up in warehouses and distribution centres with employees made to wear electronic wrist tags to monitor and direct their actions, a report said yesterday. The report by Mike Blakemore, of Durham University, conducted for the GMB general union, said that the use of the wearable satellite devices was growing throughout the logistics industry and had escalated in the past few months. The report said that the electronic tagging was one stage along a process towards full automation of certain jobs.
The Times, The Daily Mail