Today's news

Bradford throws away £20,000 on name game
The governing bodies of the University of Bradford and Bradford College have been condemned for wasting public money on a consultation exercise that states the obvious. When the university and the HE college agreed to merge, a firm of consultants was paid £20,000 to come up with a new name. They came up with Bradford University, University of Bradford and The University of Bradford. In response to the criticism Alan Hodgson, principal at the college, and Chris Taylor, vice-chancellor of the university, said: "It is not unusual for organisations facing major changes to use external consultants."
(Daily Mail)

Chancellor offers support for graduate entrepreneurs
Chancellor Gordon Brown announced yesterday that the government would consider establishing a National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship to act as a central information source for students and graduates thinking about starting up in business.
(Financial Times)

Super ice age 'gave evolution a kick-start'
The appearance of the Earth's first multicelled organisms - which ultimately gave rise to humans - may have been triggered by the end of a super ice age in which the planet was a "snowball" for millions of years, scientists say. Evidence suggests it was only after this  period that multicelled organisms appeared. The end of this ice age could have been the ideal opportunity for an explosion of new life, Andy Knoll, a palaeontologist from Harvard University, tells New Scientist magazine.
(Independent)