‘Terrorists’ on Campus?

Counter-terrorism officers have recently identified a number of universities to remain under close scrutiny, the Government has admitted.

Special Branch officers are being deployed in institutions deemed ‘at risk of being targeted by extremists’, amid growing fears that students are in danger of being groomed by fanatics.

Higher Education Minister David Lammy said that the threat posed to universities had been exaggerated, yet it remains an “extremely serious issue”.

Mr Lammy recently said on a BBC Radio 4 broadcast:

“We have identified universities for whom the risk is greater and they have to work closely with Special Branch, and so I think it is a partnership between leadership at universities and police”

He added, “We do not recognise a caricature of a significant risk across Britain.

But we do recognise that threat levels have been raised and that this is an extremely serious issue and that there are particular institutions – and those institutions are aware of this because we have brought it to their attention –  where the risk is greater and those institutions are working very closely with the police and are working closely with Special Branch and those institutions [police and Special Branch] and present on campus”.

Mr Lammy refused to name the institutions in question.

The University of Sussex has a global reputation for radical thinking and famously had a MI6 operative working on campus in the 60’s to investigate whether students had links to communist Russia.

In addition to this the university has been told that it must ‘keep tabs’ on international students in order to prevent illegal immigration.

However, when The Badger asked a university spokesperson whether ‘high risk’ operatives were being placed at the University of Sussex, it was confirmed that “we are not one of the universities which the Government has identified as being at greater risk [and therefore needing to work closely with Special Branch].

We are of course actively working with the local Prevent Partnership in Brighton and Hove which is designed to challenge violent extremism and support mainstream voices”.

The move comes just weeks after former University College London student, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, sparked a major terror investigation following an alleged failed attempt to detonate explosives on a flight from Amsterdam to the United States on Christmas day.

Mr Abdulmutallab was president of the university’s Islamic Society for three years before graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering in June 2009.

The Higher Education Minister declined to comment on whether university Islamic societies should be more closely monitored.

He said: “Universities are autonomous. They work closely with the police and intelligence services, and I’m not going to comment further than that.”

Despite Mr Abdulmatallab being the sixth member of a UK student Islamic Society to be arrested for suspected terrorism offences, Quasim Rafiq, of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis) denied any link between student groups and terror plots.

“There is no evidence or no substantial evidence to suggest there is a radicalisation of extremism taking place on campus, as people have suggested”, he said.

University academics have been divided on how to deal with the issue.

Whilst Prof Anthony Glees, who wrote a 2005 report warning that ‘campuses have become a safe haven for extremists and many universities were in denial’, said that “universities should not be used as venues for extremist propaganda [and] should be about rational debate and balance”, Prof Malcolm Grant, provost of UCL, said universities had a responsibility to work closely with security services “but not as policemen”.

“Now let’s be real about this. The influences on young minds are many and various”, he added.

BNP have ‘no confidence’ union president

Government announces university funding cuts

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has recently announced that £449 million is to be cut from university budgets across the country in the next academic year.
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Academics and MPs denounce cuts at Sussex

Britain’s higher education system is recognised across the globe as a gold standard, second only to the US. Eighteen of our universities rank in the world’s top 100. Comprising just 1% of the global population, Britain produces 7.9% of the world’s academic research publications.

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Mandelson’s measures will cause “University meltdown”

Business secretary Lord Mandelson has declared that the government is to cut university funding in England by a total of £398m for 2010/11. The reduced allocations will witness £84m taken from the funding budget for buildings and equipment, and £51m for teaching.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that even deeper cuts of 12.3% over 2011/12 are needed for ministers to achieve their target of halving national debt by 2013. This would mean an extra £1.6bn of cuts to the science and universities budget.

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Everything’s gonna be all white…

A general election on the horizon, wars, famine and swine flu sweeping the globe, and the continuation of Sussex’s ever-steady tumble towards financial oblivion…So what’s everybody talking about? Snow. Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

In all fairness, it’s not difficult to see why even the gentlest sprinkling of snowflakes (let alone the nation’s recent obliteration by blizzard) instantly becomes the indisputable champion of conversation topics. Snow is the rarity of all rarities for the British public, the stuff of Hollywood Christmas fodder (in which, be it A Christmas Carol or Bridget Jones’ Diary, English yuletide scenes are unanimously – and ironically – knee deep in picture perfect flurries), an utter transformation of the cityscapes and countryside we know so well, a force reducing young and old alike to snowball-wielding 5 year-olds and, best of all, the God-given Hoover Dam of watertight excuses to pull a sickie.

Considering the usual seasonal offering – intervals of watery sleet and the occasional bout of ‘real’ snow which, almost before the premature cries of ‘it’s settling!’, is lining curbs and gutters as slush, that ever-appealing staple of the British winter – it’s hardly surprising that a proper blizzard gets us all a bit overexcited.

But it isn’t all fun and games. Local shops providing groceries to those unable to go further afield and television broadcasters experiencing huge ratings boosts are benefitting, but they are very much in the minority. Though we haven’t had a winter this chilly since 1962, recent years have shown the national infrastructure fundamentally incapable of dealing with a cold snap – and this one has, unsurprisingly, been no exception. With a major surge in gas usage threatening a potential shortage, an end to grit supplies constantly imminent, a predicted 40,000 excess cold-related deaths this winter and chaos on the roads and rails after every snowfall, the country has proved, yet again, that past white-outs have taught us very little when it comes to being prepared.

Indeed, it seems Brighton has dealt with this winter’s adverse weather with even less capability and competence than most. After the first heavy snowfall in mid-December, the Brighton & Hove city council found themselves under fire following their decision to focus gritting efforts on Lewes Road, omitting pretty much everywhere else. This is perhaps unfair, as we are reliably informed such a decision was owing to a shortage of gritters – nevertheless, they paid the price with the numbers admitted to the local A&E department rocketing five-fold, not to mention their share in the estimated £14.5bn cost to the economy due to snowed-in workers and disruptions to transport.

But is Britain really so incredibly hopeless when it comes to dealing with snowfall? Yes, responses could be a little faster. Yes, reserves could be a little better. Yes, resources could be a little more plentiful. The truth, however, is that the British public, for all the pride we take in our stiff upper lips, really do love a bit of drama – and the snow, with its unpredictability and sheer domination, is just that. Even Midwest and Northeastern America had a spot of bother dealing with their familiar snow storms this winter, with road and rail alike suffering in a manner not radically dissimilar to ours and, when you take a good look, our responses were almost on a par.

Secretly, for all the hassle it provides, all the plans it changes, all the power shortages and chaos it bestows, we love the sense of camaraderie that suddenly emerges when we’re all schlepping through blizzards to get home, or trapped indoors watching tomorrow’s weather report with bated breath. Snow is one of the few remaining occurrences which unites us – in our eternal grumbling if nothing else – and, if only for a little while, breaks the tedium of our everyday. If nothing else, it really does look rather pretty.

Protest held in London for British student in Greek jail

A protest was held in London at the Greek embassy for a British student accused of manslaughter. The student at Bournemouth Uni­versity, Andrew Symeou, is accused of killing Jonathan Hiles of Cardiff by punching him in a nightclub at the Isle of Zante in 2007. Symeou is being held at Korydallos prison in Athens, a prison Amnesty Interna­tional say is one of Europe’s worst.

The protest was led by his sister Sophie Symeou, who said: “The case against my brother is riddled with contradictions and inconsistencies suggestive of manipulation and in places fabrication of evidence by police officers. Andrew has been held in a Greek prison without a trial for nearly six months and has been refused bail twice. My brother has suffered for too long and this cannot continue – we are protesting outside the Greek Embassy to say enough is enough.”

About 100 people turned up for the protest, chanting “enough is enough,” and “justice for Andrew.” The group called for an end to his detention, a trial date to be set and an inquiry into allegations of police misconduct.

Symeou was arrested at his home in London in June 2008 over the death of 18-year-old Hiles in a Zakynthos nightclub in July 2007. Hiles was punched and then hit his head after falling off a dance stage. He died in the hospital two days later.

Symeou has denied killing him, stating that he was not even at the club at that time and his legal team has raised doubts about the way the Zakynthos police handled the in­vestigation, as key witnesses claim they were coerced into identifying Symeou as the main suspect. Syme­ou was transferred to Greece in July 2009.

Human rights group Amnesty International and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture have repeatedly expressed concern about Korydallos prison.

Amnesty said inmates faced de­grading treatment including poor hygiene in cells and a lack of fresh air, exercise facilities or prompt medical treatment.

A British member of the Euro­pean Parliament (MEP) said yester­day that she would contact Prime Minister George Papandreou di­rectly about the ongoing detention of Symeou, in Korydallos Prison. Sarah Ludford, an MEP for the Lib­eral Democrats, said that Symeou, entering his sixth month of pre-trial custody in Greece, is wrongly being denied bail and that concerns about the handling of his case have not been investigated properly.

“Andrew Symeou’s unjust treat­ment must come to an end,” said Ludford, who is the Liberal Demo­crats’ European Justice and Human rights spokeswoman. “Greek au­thorities have denied him bail and kept him in prison for the last six months purely because he is a for­eigner. This discriminatory treat­ment offends against European human rights and undermines the principles of measures like the Eu­ropean arrest warrant.”

Ludford, who also took part in the protest, demanded Symeou’s immediate release on bail pending trial and also a serious investigation into police conduct.

“Defendants must be confident that they will be treated decently and given a fair trial throughout the EU,” Ludford said.

Fair trials international who have showed concern for Symeou’s case, state that police conduct of the sit­uation, mistaken identity, conflict­ing evidence and violent intimida­tion of witnesses have resulted in the unfair extradition of Andrew Symeou.

Fair Trials International Chief Executive Jago Russell said: “An­drew has already been held for months in a Greek jail without any opportunity to clear his name.

“We are urging Greece to bring this family’s unjustified ordeal to an end, to release Andrew on bail and to investigate the serious alle­gations of police misconduct.”

University funding in the UK receives £398m cut

Business secretary Lord Mandelson has declared that the government is to cut university funding in England by a total of £398m for 2010/11. The reduced allo­cations will witness £84m taken from the funding budget for buildings and equipment, and £51m for teaching.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that even deeper cuts of 12.3% over 2011/12 are needed for ministers to achieve their target of halving national debt by 2013. This would mean an extra £1.6bn of cuts to the science and univer­sities budget.

In a letter addressed to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce), Lord Mandelson asked for universities to protect their access and quality, despite the funding cuts. He also stated that last year’s u-turn on extra student numbers will not reoccur in 2010/11, as it was merely “responding to the particular needs of the time.”

In the aftermath of Mandelson’s announcement, many universities have warned Gordon Brown that the pro­posed cuts will bring higher education in England to its knees. Writing in The Guardian last week, The Russell Group, which represents twenty leading uni­versities including Oxford, Cambridge and Warwick, claimed that the gold standard education currently offered will be reduced to “bronze or worse”.

The Russell Group has called for Mandelson to reconsider the proposed cuts, and for assurance that no further cuts will be imposed. The group antici­pates that Labour’s cuts will result in the closure of hundreds of courses, the loss of academic staff, and larger class sizes.

“It has taken more than 800 years to create one of the world’s greatest educa­tion systems and it looks like it will take just six months to bring it to its knees. Such huge cuts in university budgets would have a devastating effect not only on students and staff, but also on Britain’s international competitiveness, economy, and ability to recover from the recession,” the group said.

The statement continued: “If politi­cians don’t act now, they will be faced with a meltdown in a sector that is vital to our national prosperity.”

Other reports have predicted that up to thirty universities would not survive should even minimal funding cuts be introduced. Universities across the country have already identified thousands of jobs at risk in their insti­tutions.

General Secretary of the University and College Union, Sally Hunt, said: “Unless these savage cuts are reversed, we face the very real prospect of many universities being forced to close, over 14,000 staff losing their jobs, and some of the biggest class sizes in the world.”

In order to ease the pressure of the funding crisis for universities, the government has suggested introduc­ing more two-year Fast-Track degrees. These Foundation and Fast-Track degree courses, which tend to appeal to those searching for more vocational qualifications, are designed to attract a broader range of students.

Higher education minister, David Lammy, said: “Fast-track, part-time, and two year degrees do not represent a reduction in quality in the higher education offer, but an increase in choice for the would-be learner. In the current economic climate, it is not a question of whether efficiencies should be made, but where efficiencies should be found.”

Lammy added that “the suggestion that the savings we have asked from universities will bring higher educa­tion ‘to its knees’ is as surprising as it is misleading.”

Shadow university and skills secre­tary, David Willetts, has promised that a Conservative government would offer an additional 10,000 university places. “This year, as a combination of a demo­graphic bulge and the recession, more people want to go to university. Our view is that higher education should be available to all those who are qualified by the ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so,” he said.

Elsewhere in Europe, the future of higher education looks distinctly more optimistic. Nicholas Sarkozy has recent­ly announced an 11bn Euro investment in higher education in France, stating he “wants the best universities in the world”. Germany has also allegedly pumped 18bn Euros into promoting “world class research alongside univer­sity education.”

The University of Buckingham – the UK’s only privately funded univer­sity – is the only British institution to welcome the cuts, stating: “It was by such cuts that the US created its Ivy League, which is the world’s best uni­versity system.”  This does not bode well for small institutions such as Sussex.

Iran condemns Oxford scholarship

The Iranian Embassy has accused Oxford University of a “politically motivated move” following the establishment of a scholarship made in honour of an Iranian student killed during post-election unrest in Tehran earlier this year.

Neda Agha-Soltan, a 27 year old Philosophy student, was shot dead at an anti-government protest in June and has since become a symbol of the opposition movement in Iran.

Opposition supporters say the 12th June poll was rigged to ensure the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. At least 30 protesters have been killed in clashes since then. Thousands have been arrested and some 200 opposition activists remain behind bars.

An amateur video of Ms Soltan’s last moments, lying bleeding on the ground, was broadcast around the world after being posted on the internet. Eyewitnesses say a member of the government militia shot her. Her image has since been widely used by the opposition.

The Iranian authorities insist, nevertheless, that Agha-Soltan’s death took place far from the scene of the protests, and are incensed that Oxford University might be seen to be endorsing protest against their regime.

In a letter sent to Paul Madden, the Provost of Queen’s College Oxford, Iranian authorities condemned the creation of the Graduate Scholarship in Philosophy. The letter said that the involvement of the university in Iran’s internal affairs would “highly politicize your academic institution, undermining your scientific credibility” and place Oxford “at odds with the rest of the world’s academic institutions.”

A press release announcing the scholarship said: “Oxford is increasingly losing out to its competitors in the race to recruit top graduate students. Donations such as those that have enabled us to create the Neda Agha-Soltan Scholarship are absolutely vital for us to continue to attract and retain the best young minds.”

Madden added that “this scholarship will help Iranian students to study at Oxford, regardless of their financial background.”

The University of Oxford said: “The Chancellor of the University has not received a letter from the Iranian Embassy. This is a college matter and, since Oxford colleges are autonomous, did not involve the University at any stage.”

Students protest gay blood ban

On Tuesday 27th October, a procession of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students descended on London in an NUS protest against the National Blood Service’s (NBS) policy of refusing gay and bisexual men the right to donate blood.

At present, a man who has ever had oral or anal sex with another man is banned from donating blood for life. NUS believes that this lifetime ban is discriminatory and perpetuates the myth that AIDS is a ‘gay disease’. Stonewall, the National Aids Trust, Unison LGBT, and a growing number of scientific and medical experts, have also publicly stated their concern over the ban.
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