Gair Rhydd

A Nobel appointment

Cardiff welcomes Nobel Laureate as new President

Cardiff University inaugurated Nobel Prize winner Sir Martin Evans as its new President last week as Lord Neil Kinnock stepped down after 11 years in the role.

The baton was formally passed during an inauguration ceremony held at the National Museum last Monday.

Healthcare students finally get swine flu jab

Cardiff University healthcare students on placement at University Hospital Wales (UHW) have finally been offered the swine flu vaccine – over a month after the local health board was urged to provide it to frontline staff.

On October 7 the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr. Tony Jewell, asked NHS organisations to “develop a plan to vaccinate those frontline staff eligible for vaccination”.

Cardiff pipped to the post at Media Awards

gair rhydd scooped the runner-up prize in the category of Best Student Newspaper of the Year at this year’s Guardian Student Media Awards.

The fantastic achievement was realised against some stiff opposition from York Vision, Felix, from Imperial College London and Forge Press from Sheffield University. The overall winning newspaper was The Leeds Student from Leeds University, which pipped Cardiff to the post.

Students don their pjs for charity

Three students from Cardiff University wore pyjamas for an entire week to raise money for a charity in Africa.

Mandy, Kate and Alice are raising money for READ International, which will allow them to send textbooks to secondary school students in Tanzania and Uganda.

Gender-neutral toilets proposed for Union

A motion brought to Student Council last week proposed that the Students’ Union introduce gender-neutral toilet facilities in the Union building.

The motion, which was put forward by LGBT officer Rachelle Simmons, was discussed by Student Council before it was decided that a survey should be carried out to assess the need for transgender toilets.

Mansfield talks at Cardiff law school

The high-profile lawyer, Michael Mansfield, came to Cardiff to give a talk on injustice last week, following the release of his new book Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer.

Mansfield is renowned for fighting high-profile cases involving Jill Dando, Dodi Fayed, Angela Cannings, Jean Charles Menezes inquiry, as well as the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

Student avoids prison after Carnage shame

A Sheffield Hallam University student has narrowly avoided imprisonment after urinating on a war memorial during a night out organised by Carnage UK.

19-year-old Phillip Laing consumed a bottle of whisky with a friend before leaving his house, and continued to drink when he was on the Carnage pub crawl. A picture of him urinating against a war memorial appeared in several national newspapers.

Uni boycott forces Russell Athletic to change practices

1,200 workers have been reinstated in a Russell Athletic factory in Honduras, after it closed in January this year following the formation of a workers’ union.

The promise was made in an unprecedented joint agreement between Russell, which is a subsidiary of Fruit of the Loom, and the union of factory workers.

AU's got talent?

Last Wednesday night, the Union played host to AU’s Got Talent with the AU’s sports stars showing off their other, more hidden talents.

Eight teams contested the event, with men’s rugby, swimming and water polo baring all for the cause. The result came down to a dance-off between Men’s Football and the Cheerleaders, with Men’s Football narrowly winning after the AU president ruled they had gained marginally more support on the cheer-o-meter.

Panto-monium

Act One thrilled students this week with this year’s pantomime, Cinderotica. The show was another enjoyable spectacle from Cardiff’s premier student drama troupe.

It was a distinctly Cardiff affair, with the whimsical world of traditional fairytales dropped in to the grotty heart of Cathays to great effect. The script was angled perfectly towards a student audience, leaving the ‘line’ a mere dot on the horizon, as the boundaries of human decency were broken.

Crisis at LMU

The body that funds English universities has called for the mass resignation of governors at London Metropolitan University (LMU), after they were accused of misusing public money.

A letter from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to the chairman of governors at London Metropolitan University calls on senior staff and members of the governing body to “consider their position”.

KESS of life

Bangor University is leading a new scholarship programme providing funding for over 400 PhD and masters university places over the next five years in Wales.

The £33 million EU-backed Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship (KESS) will offer graduates an annual bursary of up to £13,300 for 2009/10 as well as research training and higher – level skills development. The project is largely funded by the Convergence European Social Fund but Higher Education Institutions and the private sector will also contribute amd will aim to instil students with the skills and knowledge needed by Welsh businesses.

You'll never guess what...

At your service

A couple in Pennsylvania were arrested for ‘theft’ after refusing to leave a tip at a restaurant they visited with six other friends.

Houston, the baby has landed

An astronaut has received news of his daughter’s birth whilst travelling in space.

Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Bresnik was flying as a Mission Specialist aboard NASA flight STS-129 when he found out that his wife had given birth at home on Earth. His daughter, Abigail Mae Bresnik, was born on November 21st and is now living at the family home with her adopted Ukrainian brother in Houston, Texas.

Top dollar

One of Adolf Hitler’s vehicles has been tracked down for sale to a Russian billionaire.

The Mercedes 770A Kompressor convertible was one of a fleet used by Hitler during public appearances and was often featured in televised footage of the Nazi leader reviewing his troops.

Monkey business

Grandmother monkeys have been witnessed helping to raise their grandchildren in Japan.

Two wild Japanese macaques living in Katsuyama have been seen taking an active role in caring for the children of their offspring. It is the first time such behaviour has been unmistakably recognised in a non-human primate.