Gair Rhydd

Stranger than fiction?

Have you ever got out a book from the University libraries about terrorism, or one remotely related to it? If so, your name could be on a list that has the potential to be passed on to MI5; Katie Kennedy investigates

It sounds like something out of the Cold War, but a piece of government legislation means that thousands of students nationally are being unwittingly spied on by their universities, academic rights are being infringed upon, and lecturers are being asked to compromise their relationships with their students.

It will come as no surprise then that this legislation has not been widely advertised to students by the government or their universities, and so many people would think that little has been reported on it by the national media too. But, in fact, these guidelines are a part of the controversial anti-terror laws, which last week seemed to become even more uncompromising with plans unveiled by the Home Secretary John Reid.

University to take disciplinary action against Facebook students

Cardiff students reprimanded for making derogatory comments about lecturers and using Facebook group walls to share coursework answers

Students could be unwittingly kept under surveillance by University staff through their use of online media such as Facebook it has emerged, after several Cardiff students were threatened with disciplinary action for comments made on the social networking site.

A number of students from the Biosciences Department have been reprimanded for using the site to share ‘detailed information on coursework and other assessments’, and also for posting comments on a group wall that could ‘involve an offence against a person’, or be construed as ‘defamatory or obscene … abusive or threatening to others’.

Simply not good enough

Disabled Cardiff students say it’s high time the University improved its facilities. Helen Thompson examines their case

Disabled students are sometimes excluded from lectures and have no choice but to learn entire modules by themselves due to the poor access facilities at Cardiff University, gair rhydd can reveal, after a Union-directed review of the provisions.

Lecture halls that are only accessible by staircases, lifts too small to fit a wheelchair and fire doors that are too heavy for some disabled students to operate were just some of the problems encountered by Kate Monaghan, Cardiff Students’ Union’s Education and Welfare Officer, when touring the Cathays campus with a volunteer student in a wheelchair.

Waking up to a whole new world

Polish man, comatose for 19 years, struggles to adapt to his massively-altered country

A Polish man has woken up from a 19-year coma to find that his country is very different to the one he left.

Jan Grzebski fell into a coma after being hit by a train in 1988, a time when Poland was still a communist country ruled by Wojciech Jaruzelski.

Political tremors rock Spain

Civil unrest returns to Northern Spain as extremist separatist party ends ceasefire

Eta, the Basque separatist party, has announced that it is to call off its 14-month-long ‘permanent’ ceasefire, it emerged on June 6.

Spain now seems poised to bear further attacks as the notoriously violent party has allegedly been rearming during its ‘hiatus’ period. Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been warned by the police that the group has also refined its bomb-making techniques and built a well-organised network within Madrid.

Naked ambition to combat student rubbish dumping

Students encouraged to dispose of end-of-term rubbish responsibly with increased collections and ‘naked’ campaign

Two students will ‘bare all’ on posters and leaflets across the student-populated areas of Cardiff, in a bid to encourage fellow students to put out their end-of-term rubbish on time.

‘Get It Out for Cardiff’ will return to Cardiff on June 15 as part of the ongoing Keep Cardiff Tidy campaign.

Dutch bare all in the name of art

A group of naked subjects posed recently in an Amsterdam multi-storey car park for US photographer Spencer Tunick who is renowned for his installations of large groups of nude people.

The volunteers participated in a series of four nude shots in the heart of the city during the early hours of the morning on June 3.

Ale-ing success

Cardiff University’s Real Ale and Cider society has announced that it will be donating a mammoth £5,000 to the Ty Hafan children’s hospice, after their highly successful Beer Festival.

This year the festival celebrated its tenth anniversary by holding its largest ever event. Over 2,000 students came to the Students’ Union’s Great Hall to sample the wide variety of award-winning ales and ciders.

Testing times

A-levels fail to distinguish effectively between candidates, and sixth-formers should take US-style entrance tests when applying to university, a Government report has concluded.

The study, undertaken by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) and following 9,000 students completing the standard reasoning SAT test, believes that its introduction would aid elite universities in identifying the best students from those who achieve straight A-grades at A-level.

Cardiff students highlight plight of asylum seekers

Cardiff students are playing a significant role in raising awareness for asylum seekers in the run-up to Refugee Week.

Student Action for Refugees (STAR) is a national organisation dedicated to raising the profile of refugee issues within university campuses and suggesting ‘innovative ways to support refugees in a practical way in their local communities’.

Aberystwyth voted best place to be a student in the UK

Aberystwyth has been voted the best place in the UK to be a student, according to a newly released survey.

The Welsh town, more than a two-hour drive from Cardiff, has beaten competition from 80 other university towns to take the top spot in the survey.

Anything you can do

Israel retaliates to British academics’ plans to boycott Israeli universities

The Israeli parliament is threatening to launch a counter-boycott of Britain in response to the academic boycotts proposed by British unions and associations, last week.

The proposed bill is aimed at punishing the decision by the University and College Union (UCU) to back a year-long debate calling for the discontinuation of all links with Israeli academic institutions due to the country’s occupation of Palestinian land.

Impossible targets for lecturers

Productivity targets are ruining the careers of academics, the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU), which represents lecturers across the country, has said.

Professors at Imperial College London have claimed this week that a productivity analysis used by the University for judging staff performance is restricting academic research to the extent that a Nobel laureate would fail the test.

Cardiff students protest against Israel’s occupation of Palestine

Cardiff Students’ Union Palestinian society demonstrate on Queen’s Street to mark the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War

Cardiff students gathered in Cardiff’s Queen’s Street last Tuesday to protest against Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories.

The demonstration, organised by Cardiff Students’ Union’s Palestinian Solidarity Society, took place on June 5, the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War – the conflict that initiated the occupation.

After months of silence, Alan Johnston video is released

First images of captured former Cardiff student appear on the internet

Following 12 weeks without word from the captors of former Cardiff University student, Alan Johnston, a video featuring the abducted BBC correspondent has appeared on the internet.

The video is believed to have been posted by the Army of Islam, the group claiming to be holding the reporter. In the video Mr Johnston says he is in good health, is being treated well and has not been subjected to any violence.

Union launches student recruitment campaign

A new initiative called ‘We Love Cardiff’ has been launched by Cardiff Students’ Union’s future sabbatical team to get all students who are enthusiastic about the Union involved in its promotion and organisation in the next academic year.

It will include a venture entitled ‘Team Cardiff’, a group of pro-active students that raises awareness of opportunities and events of interest within the Union for Cardiff students. This will include becoming involved with Union events and campaigns and helping to create an enthusiastic atmosphere around sports, societies and media.

Christian students to face difficulty getting home for Easter recess 2008

Next year’s scheduled academic term dates will mean that many Cardiff students may not be able to travel home in time for the Easter weekend, as the Easter recess will not begin until the day after Good Friday.

The recess dates revealed on Cardiff University’s website show that the holiday does not officially begin until March 22 and although Good Friday on March 21 is a bank holiday, this may still pose difficulties for students and University staff.

University threatens to make 22 academic and other staff redundant

Cardiff University has been slammed by the lecturers’ union (University and College Union) over plans to make ‘unnecessary’ cut-backs on its staff.

According to a statement released by the UCU, the University’s proposals to institute compulsory redundancies have come as a ‘premature’ reaction to funding shortfalls in three of its schools.

Charity calendar girls cheque out

Netball girls who took their kit off for charity hand over £2000 cheque

Cardiff University Netball Club presented a cheque for £2000 last week to Cancer Research UK, following their successful charity calendar.

The lingerie calendar sold over 800 copies, and was featured in gair rhydd last October. It was sold around the University, locally in Cardiff and reached as far afield as Thailand.

Running for life

Cardiff’s 14th annual ‘Race for Life’ event was held recently in aid of Cancer Research UK.

The 5km race saw over 8,000 women running, jogging or walking the course around Bute Park.

“Shabby” lecturers to get Trinny and Susannah treatment

The timeless image of a lecturer dressed in crumpled corduroy trousers and jackets with elbow pads may be a thing of the past, as some academics face a style overhaul.

The University of Central England in Birmingham has enlisted the company ‘Styletalks’ to run a makeover workshop for its male staff this month in the hope that the hired style consultants will give their teaching staff a more up-to-date look.

Turning the time-tables on the University

Students’ Union sets up Facebook group for students to voice anger over congested exam timetables and poor feedback

In response to an overwhelming surge in complaints about exam timetables and conditions, Students’ Union Vice President Ed Jones has set up a Facebook group where students can air their grievances.

Complaints have already been made regarding recurring issues such as inconsiderate timetabling, inaccuracies on examination papers and poor conditions in exam venues. The group is titled ‘My exam timetable was awful – I’m complaining!’ and already had 120 members at the time of going to print.

What on EARTH is going on, ask students

Cardiff University students were up in arms last week after an administrative blunder with an exam almost led the involved School to reset the paper.

The cohort of approximately 90 EARTH School students, who include geologists, marine geographers and environmental geoscientists, took the Principles of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) examination, worth 40% of the module, on May 16. They were shocked to find that the paper was the exact replica of a ‘practice’ paper which had been available in the library and on the School’s website.