- Being forced to live in a travel hotel equidistant from London and Norwich didn鈥檛 work out too well for Alan Partridge. But 100 Anglia Ruskin University undergraduates starting term by living at a Cambridge Travelodge found themselves in just such a situation. They were moved into the hotel 鈥渂ecause there is no accommodation available elsewhere in Cambridge鈥, the Cambridge News reported on 18聽October. Local councillor Richard Johnson worried about how that might affect their study. 鈥淚f you are starting an academic year, you want to get into a rhythm and if that is disturbed you are going to be at a disadvantage.鈥
- London mayor Boris Johnson used a speech at Peking University to make a 鈥渇ull-throttle effort to upstage [chancellor] George Osborne鈥. The Times reported on 15 October that the Tory politicians鈥 鈥渕ildly uncomfortable double act鈥 at the university was part of a week-long tour of China. Mr Osborne鈥檚 speech to 200 students was 鈥渄elivered stiffly and made his audience fall almost silent鈥, but Mr聽Johnson evoked 鈥20 gales of laughter鈥 with references to Downton Abbey, Harry Potter (although his erroneous reference to the wizard鈥檚 first girlfriend being from China later got him into hot water) and a 2008 dash to buy a suit in a聽Beijing market so he 鈥渨ould look less scruffy鈥. It did not occur to him, it seems, to get a haircut.
- Any good PR Peking University may have won by hosting the world鈥檚 most high-profile former shadow higher education minister was obliterated a few days later by news that it had sacked an economist with a history of criticising China鈥檚 government. The Guardian reported on 21聽October that the removal of Xia Yeliang as associate professor of economics raises fears of a renewed state crackdown on free speech. Professor Xia, who helped imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo to draft a manifesto calling for reform of China鈥檚 one-party system, claimed that his removal had been ordered by 鈥渉igh-level authorities鈥. Peking denied this, stating that he was fired for poor teaching and that he had been the 鈥渨orst-ranked teacher for many years in a聽row鈥. Professor Xia labelled that a聽smear, noting that no one in 30 years had been dismissed for poor teaching. Even if it is true, there may well be UK universities ready to offer him a lifeline as long as he can be submitted to the research excellence framework and can get to the UK by next week鈥檚 census date.
- Residents of Lincoln are demanding that the city鈥檚 university contribute 拢40,000 towards a聽service to tackle antisocial students. The Lincolnshire Echo reported on 17聽October that locals, fed up with 鈥渁ll-night parties, urinating in gardens, verbal abuse, thefts of road signs and vandalism to cars鈥, have asked the University of Lincoln to fund a telephone hotline and enforcement officers to attend incidents reported in the early hours. Currently, disgruntled, sleep-deprived residents who ring the council-run antisocial behaviour service get to vent their frustrations only to an answerphone. One residents鈥 association member said he was 鈥渘ot student bashing鈥 but found that some students took the view that 鈥淲e can do what we like: it鈥檚 a聽student area鈥.
- The Daily Telegraph took an uncharacteristic interest in a post-1992 university with coverage of the love life of the University of Bedfordshire vice-chancellor on 19聽October. It revealed that Bill Rammell, the former Labour higher education minister, had 鈥渇ormed a聽relationship鈥 with Helen Bailey, a聽professor of dance at Bedfordshire and head of its division of performing arts and English. 鈥淟abour-supporting鈥 Professor Bailey was appointed 鈥渋nterim executive dean of partnerships鈥 in June by a board that included Mr聽Rammell, but the university 鈥渟tressed that his relationship with [her] began after this and so had no influence on the appointment鈥. She has also stepped down as a staff governor to avoid any conflict of interest and will report to the deputy vice-chancellor, Ashraf Jawaid, instead of Mr Rammell. The Telegraph鈥檚 exhaustive scrutiny of her Facebook page revealed that she had a聽鈥渂it of a weirdo crush鈥 on shadow chancellor Ed Balls. Unaccountably, however, it failed for once to mention that Bedfordshire used to be run by Office for Fair Access director and alleged social-engineer-in-chief Les Ebdon.
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