When it comes to watching the pennies and saving the planet, the University of Wales, Newport, appears to be leading the way in higher education. It announced this week that it is using waste chip fat from its student refectory to fuel campus vehicles and machinery. In future, its minibus and even the vice-chancellor's car could be converted to run on students' used chip oil. Apparently Newport has been approached by other universities interested in following suit. It is unclear, however, whether their vice-chancellors have been consulted on the idea.