International students help foreign language learning in local schools

In an innovative scheme, three secondary schools in Brighton are hiring foreign students from the University of Sussex to help with language teaching. So far, the program has had positive effects on language learning in Brighton, and it is hoped that it will catch on in other schools across Britain. Read more

Sussex college strikes for pay rise

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) went on strike at Sussex Downs College on 5 February. The college joins ten others across Britain in the strike aimed to increase the annual salary of lecturers and teachers.
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Pro-Palestinian students occupy lecture theatre after anti-war talk

Students occupied the Arts A2 lecture theatre in protest over the continuing Israeli military action in Gaza, following a speech from a controversial British-Palestinian academic that drew an audience of hundreds of students last Tuesday evening.
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University responds to international ID card scheme

Starting this November, the UK Border Agency began issuing the new national ID card to non-EU students and marriage visa holders. This has been described by some critics as a “softening up” procedure for the introduction of ID cards for every UK resident. By next April, the Border Agency hopes to have 50,000 cards issued. Planning for the implementation process started in early 2007. Read more

Lecturers’ union demands pay increase

In the face of a severe economic downturn, members of the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU), including lecturers and academics, are demanding significant increases to their annual salaries. The UCU would like to see an 8% pay raise for lecturers, starting next year. However, when inflation is taken into account, the pay increase will only amount to 3.5%.
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Iranian Minister faked Oxford degree

The Iranian Interior Minister has been dismissed from his post after the discovery of a forged degree from Oxford University. Ali Kordan, who has only been in office since mid-August 2007, was relieved from his post last Tuesday when his degree, littered with grammatical errors, was found to be a fake.
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“Dumbing Down”: higher grades for higher rankings?

In a poll by the Times Higher Education magazine, 77% of 500 academics asked say they feel coerced into giving out higher grades to students in order to improve the rankings of their universities. This comes at a time where many feel the UK’s University standards are “dumbing down.” Read more

Rage against the caffeine

On bustling St James’s Street in Brighton, the epicentre of controversy and debate lies not in some right-winged abortion clinic or explicit sex store, but rather, in your average Starbucks coffee shop. The St James’s Starbucks, one of eight Starbucks in Brighton, has been the topic of dispute since it opened illegally in May.
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