FE unites in cash plea
Colleges united yesterday to demand urgent action to reverse the crisis in further education funding, which sees starting salaries for lecturers trailing teachers by at least £1,600. Lecturers’ union Natfhe, the Association of Colleges, further education managers, the National Union of Students and public services union Unison joined forces in a lobby of Parliament. They said the sector was losing staff to industry and schools.
( The Guardian )
Royal Academicians call for chairman’s resignation
A group of Royal Academicians called yesterday for Sir Anthony Tennant’s resignation as chairman because of his role in the international auction house price-fixing scandal. Sir Anthony, who would be arrested if he set foot in America, should fall on his sword, the artists said.
( The Times )
Minister clashes with academic
A row broke out between a minister and senior academics and economists yesterday amid claims that the government is disguising jobless levels. Speaking at a conference on a new alliance for regional aid, Alan Johnson, minister for regions at the Department for Trade and Industry, described remarks made by Steve Fothergill of Sheffield Hallam University as “rubbish”. Mr Fothergill is co-author of a report that criticises new Labour’s regional policy.
( The Guardian )
Oxford poet faces second race inquiry
Poet Tom Paulin is facing a second investigation by Oxford University after a judge criticised him for making unfounded allegations of racism against a fellow don in an unsuccessful action for racial discrimination brought by a student. Mr Paulin is already being investigated by the university proctors over an interview with an Egyptian newspaper in which he was reported as saying that American-born Jewish settlers in Israel should be shot.
( The Daily Telegraph )
Algae – you’ve been a long time coming
The first definitive work for 75 years on algae, the least regarded but vital plant species, was published yesterday after ten years’ work by 20 leading scientists. The Freshwater Algal Flora of the British Isles is published by Cambridge University Press and has cost £1 million to produce.
( The Guardian )
Tate archives on show
The archives and library of the Tate have been brought together in a purpose-built suite of rooms at Tate Britain in London, which from next month will be open to scholars and members of the public. The centre will house photographs, manuscripts, diaries and letters that detail splits in artistic alliances.
( The Independent, The Guardian )
One in ten A and E doctors contemplates suicide
One in ten doctors working in accident and emergency has contemplated suicide because of the stress of the job, according to a study. The findings, published in the Emergency Medical Journal , show that the high pressure of work on the front line of medicine exacts a heavy psychological price on staff.
( The Independent, The Daily Telegraph )
Royal College of Nursing conference
Nurses reject ‘tricking’ patients
Nurses rejected guidance that allows them to trick patients into taking medication by hiding drugs in food or drink. The policy, from the nurses’ regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, was strongly opposed at the RCN conference in Harrogate.
( The Independent, The Times )
Students are the business
The National Union of Students estimates that undergraduates face a £4,000 shortfall a year in funding tuition and living costs and this can be good news to employers looking for “self-confident, bright and articulate” workers.
( Financial Times )
Formula milk sparks diabetes fear
Women born in the 1950s and 1960s who were fed formula milk as babies and have since become obese or diabetic may be passing the condition on to their own children, according to Mulchand Patel, professor of biochemistry at the University of Buffalo, New York.
( The Times )
First-borns may have greater coronary disease risk
First-born children may be more likely than their siblings to suffer from coronary heart disease, according to an Italian study.
( The Times, Daily Mail )
Buddha comes to London
A hoard of Chinese stone sculptures arrived in Britain yesterday. The 35 sculptures, all depicting Buddha, date from the 5th and 6th centuries and will be on display at the Royal Academy in London from Friday until July 14.
( The Daily Telegraph )