Felix Issue 1103, 1998
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WIN WIN WIN EXCLUSIVE TOO THICK TO STAPLE I Electric Cafe Interview with Bumper Issue Grand Give-away Robson Green Next Wednesday IC Tops the Charts ANDREW OFORI wide range of factors and allots the results' announcement last them a relative weight. week, viewing the THES figures as Imperial College's consistent All universities have received an extremely dubious. According to research excellence has been increase on last year's awards in the finance department £ 1 70 mil- emphatically rewarded with the cash terms, but the high flyers have lion is a more accurate estimation princely sum of £104 million in of IC's research funding, but the research funding. This is the largest increase on last year is apparently amount allocated to any university only slightly above inflation, with in the country, according to the one department source stating "we Times Higher Education UNIVERSITY FUNDING 1998 99 don't think we're that much better Supplement. The figure is made up off than last year". The amount of money from the Higher £l04m includes revenue from tuition fees, Education Funding Council for ' :; i!':-.i.Jj?C:. i«0m which "causes us some concern". England, as well as the college's £84m It is felt that the college is in a generic income from joint projects £79m slightly more vulnerable position with industry. The amount is a 5.1 % . £74m than last year, as the funding is the increase on last year and places Manchester £52m source of academic staffs' salaries, Imperial above Cambridge and •• . ': £45m and difficulties with the collection Oxford, who were rewarded £90 / Southampton £44m of student fees could strain college and £84 million respectively. 9. £43m resources. The 1998-99 allocations are the i 0. Sheffield 141 m On a national scale academic result of a research assessment staff are exposed in having to rely exercise carried out in 1996. This so heavily on student fees. David assessment was also used to assign ySllll::: ii PMS'fiBMWsSSiM : i i i i i i i WSSM iTriesman i , General Secretary of the last year's funding levels, but Association of University Teachers, Imperial received less as some of its was far from contented with grant was used to support those clearly prospered to the detriment Government spending; "The univer- who performed badly in the assess- of the lesser universities, with 24 of sities are hanging on- by their finger ment. This time Imperial has the 135 higher education institutes nails. We recognise a serious effort retained its full award, leaving the gaining monetary increases below is being made to inject stability, but HEFCE to pay the aid bill. The inflation. it remains a constant problem while assessment procedure, which is still Imperial has avoided getting all the big policy decisions for high- under development; considers a caught up in the rapture caused by er education are on ice." College Steal STA Deal DAVID ROBERTS on top of last year's loss of the which at present generates in Union Bookstore and recent excess of £ 100,000 worth of extra The Union has found itself £42,000 attempts by its successor, funding for Union clubs and per year worse off this week as a Waterstone's, to take over the sta- services. result of a move from College With 270 new students The which has been described by arriving on campus in Students' one senior source as "black- October, ICU have been left mail". College has demanded a with no options but to accept Newspaper 70% share of the proceeds gen- the deal, leading Andy Heeps, at Imperial erated from the space rented to ICU President, to describe STA Travel, which at present this as "the worst week of my College goes directly into Union fund- Presidency." In a letter to the ing. If the Union do not accept I Rector dated 10 March, Mr this deal then the Rector, Sir I Heeps laid out the terms on Ronald Oxburgh, has stated that I which the Union accepts the Issue the planned jCR development 111 deal; "That the Union is rede- will not go ahead. f 1111 veloped over the summer The edict from Sir Ron comes Photo: Mark Smith vacation... that the Union is shortly after College attempted not financially disadvan- 1 3 March to force the Union to pay £ 100,000 tionary and card trade on campus, taged... that the College affirms its 1 998 for the desperately needed renova- senior figures view this as the next commitment to seeing Union tion, and thus some see the move step in the Rector's master-plan to as being purely cash-driven. Coming remove ICU's entire trading arm continues on page three NEWS 13 March 1998 Football Club Fracas News in Brief. (Take Four) (Students Affairs) to the current THIEVES WASTE team. They will be responsible for DAVID ROBERTS However, a football spokesman the welfare and academic affairs suggested that the damage caused COMPUTER of students, currently undertaken The ICU Football team has landed by the party should not be over- by the President. itself in controversy once again. stated; "A few expensive items A computing student and two The same motion also recom- The latest incident took place at were borrowed from the hotel. intruders were involved in a fist- mended that the president of IC the Kensington Park Hotel during They will be returned... Otherwise fight in the Huxley building last School of Medicine Students' the team's Annual Dinner, only two it was no different from any other week as the men attempted to Union has sabbatical status for days after a Union disciplinary ICU sports bash". He went on to steal a lap-top computer. two further years before falling in found the fourth team guilty of add "Kids ex. beer - they just don't Although nobody was hurt, the line with the other CCUs. bringing the Union into disrepute, mix". computer was broken in the scuf- after a match at Bath resulted in a Coming on top of other ICU fle and the thieves escaped from string of complaints from Bath's football related incidents this year, the building unhindered. Ken STUFF PINCHED Student Union. including the incident at Bath and Weir, Chief Security Officer, Having booked the Hotel with the destruction caused by the stressed that on no account Residents from Brabazon House, £500 cash - and thus without the Hammersmith pub crawl last should any students put them one of Charing Cross' halls, prior consent of the Union - the November, which led to all IC stu- selves at risk in this way, but returned home last Friday after- team then proceeded to enjoy dents being barred from several should call security, on 4444 for noon to find the new video themselves in their usual fashion. pubs, this is being seen as the last immediate action on any emer- recorder and Nintendo 64 games Consequently, the Union found straw by senior Union figures. gency or security alert. system absent. After a few hours themselves faced with a bill for Severe disciplinary action is of general enquiries it was con- damages totalling £1034 on anticipated. cluded that they had been stolen. Monday morning. The bill includes 5th'SABBATICAL Preliminary investigations failed to "an entire silver cutlery set and a reveal their whereabouts and the painting, which had been torn Please Note A new sabbatical position will be police were called in. down and urinated over". Faced created for 1CU in 1999 - 2000, if The scene of the crime was There will be NO Felix next with the bill Andy Heeps, ICU a motion passed at last week's sealed off while police investiga- Friday (20 March). Watch out President, has declared that he will Union Council is approved by col- tions were carried out. There was for a special bumper Easter edi- force the football club to foot the lege. The position, to be contest- no sign of a forced entry to the tion on Wednesday 25 March. bill or face disbanding. ed in the elections next February building. will add a Deputy President Mines Rock Teaching Awards TONY OFORI graduates, unparalleled library facilities and good staff-student The departments of Materials, relations. No other institution has Earth Resources Engineering and achieved full marks in this subject the Centre for Composite with Oxford and Cambridge man- Materials scored full marks in a aging only 23 and old rivals joint Teaching Quality Assessment Camborne School of Mines scrap- carried out at the beginning of this ing 21. Other departments in IC month. were also assessed, including The assessment was conduct- Chemical Engineering and ed by the Higher Education Aeronautics, but failed to score full Funding Council for England and is marks. Prof McLean, head of the part of a national investigation into Materials department hoped that the quality of university education. this mark would go a long way to During the week long assessment a giving the department "recognition team of inspectors rigorously for its high standards". analysed various aspects of the The proud teaching staff of Mines. Photo: Mark Smith In the meeting where the tesult departments, classified as materi- was announced, Professor als technology, ranging from cur- Terezopoulos from ERE reminded riculum design to student support. the assessment was to ascertain The Dean of the RSM, the gathering that "Nobody is per- More importantly the standard of whethet departments are meeting Professor Rees Rawlings, revealed fect", to which the Dean replied, "I teaching, learning and self-assess- their attainment targets. However, in a meeting with students that think we're approaching it." ment was explored in detail to dis- this is not to say that those which they had scored 24 points out of a cover exactly how good the educa- aim low get good scores as the possible 24.