Let universities throw off shackles of the state
Labour's review of higher education must create the conditions for adequate funding, says Richard Brown Higher education is vital for the future wealth and social development of the UK. Yet...
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Gary Day
One of my students died a few weeks ago. She had an epileptic fit and that was that. I didn't know she suffered from the condition, and when her friend told me, she added that the doctors had said it...
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Don's diary: what did medieval stages look like?
November 2001 Max Siller of Innsbruck University emails me the sketch of a 1514 mystery play stage plan. Would I discuss it in German for an Austrian conference in Italy? My interest in theatre...
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Storm in a tipple glass
Physicists at the University of Hertfordshire have been celebrating the festive season with Tia Maria and cream. They used the combination to create the illusion of a planetary storm for an...
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Backing for the beard
Praise at last for Charles Clarke's personal appearance. The education secretary may be the butt of endless jibes about his jug ears and lunch-loving girth but he has now won Beard of the Year 2002...
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Figure it out
Cambridge University has released its annual statistics on undergraduate applications and acceptances in a special edition of The Reporter . This year was one for the ladies. For the first time the...
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ET finds BT is good for talk
On a recent trip to Bristol University a THES reporter was amused to hear frequent reference to one "ET". It transpired that ET was none other than vice-chancellor Eric Thomas, a man with, indeed,...
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Grub from those on a grant
Scotland's first minister, Jack McConnell, has been expanding vocational training opportunities by hiring catering students to organise and deliver formal dinners. He said: "(My wife) and I made a...
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Why I support efforts to adopt a US approach to university fundraising
I was privileged to attend a private view of an exhibition on the Legacy of Genghis Khan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York last November. One of the curators, Stefano Carboni, showed us...
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Keep staff on board
Woe betide the government if it opts to ignore academic opinion in its reforms, says Roger Brown It seems clear that the government's higher education strategy paper will include among its main...
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Regain the right to self-regulate
When it comes to quality assurance, Britain could learn a lot from the US, argues Geoffrey Alderman American InterContinental University last year underwent its decennial "reaffirmation of...
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Personality could open door to med school
Scottish applicants to medical schools are being tested for narcissism, empathy and moral reasoning in a radical project that hopes to transform the admissions process and promote wider access....
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Maggie excuse was just 'bunk'
Sir Edward Heath's protestations that he was never Margaret Thatcher's warmest admirer - often dismissed as pique - are given substance by documents released this week by the Public Record Office...
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Japan set to hit target for foreign student intake
Japan is back on track towards its target of 100,000 international students enrolled at its universities by the start of the 21st century. The ministry of education said that a record high of 95,550...
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Surrey seeks escape from state control
Surrey University could become Britain's first public university to opt out of government control and rely on independent funding. In 2000-01, the university was among the institutions that received...