Protesters disrupted a panel discussion at Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road, which featured Professor A C Grayling, Birkbeck College Professor of Philosophy and pioneer of the New College of Humanities (NCH).

NCH proposes to charge £18,000 a year tuition, with big name academics on board, such as Professor Richard Dawkins. NCH recently received criticism for commercialising education and providing education only for those rich enough to pay.

The event intended to address the problems of Government cut to funding the arts but instead focused on Professor Grayling and NCH, with audience members heckling and interrupting Professor Grayling throughout.

At the end of the event, one protester let off a smoke bomb, emitting potent red smoke into the room and panicking the crowd, who rushed to leave through the nearest exits.

Mark Bergfeld, who has been at the forefront of student protests over the past year, said: “Grayling cannot expect anything else from the student movement in this country.”

Professor Grayling had tried to settle the crowd, offering to discuss their concerns after the event.

A spokesperson for Foyles book shop said: “The event went as expected, given the circumstances. We didn’t plan for this. We’re just a bookshop.”

Speaking to journalists after the incident Grayling said that he would “keep up pressure” on the Government to reverse cuts to the arts but that we must also, “think of imaginative ways to do things differently.”

NCH suggests a move toward a more American system of funding, which Grayling says he “understands” why people have concerns about. He said that he hopes to show it can be done, “carefully, responsibly and ethically.”

He said: “I didn’t expect to change any minds.”

Protesters have vowed to, “put Grayling on the grey list.” Bergfeld added: “Wherever Grayling goes over the next few weeks, the student movement will be there.”

Neither Professor Grayling, nor Foyles bookshop intend to take legal action against the protesters.

The NUS Awards happen every year, rewarding exceptional student involvement in a wide range of activity across 13 categories.

London students and Students’ Unions were shortlisted in three categories. The London and National Student Journalism Support Networks for Best Student Media, Royal Holloway student Nick Stylianou for Student Journalist Of The Year and Goldsmiths Students’ Union for Campaign Of The Year.

Aaron Porter, NUS President, said: “I am very impressed by the quality of the entries this year. It has been an outstanding 12 months for the student movement and the nominations for this year’s NUS Awards back this up.

A panel of distinguished judges, including LSE Alumni and Director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti CBE, and BBC Education Correspondent Sean Coughlan, deliberated over the 391 entries.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Leeds on July 20.

The shortlist:

Endsleigh Student of the Year
Ross Grant – Aberdeen University Students’ Association
Tayaba Nicholson – University of Manchester Students’ Union
Emily Nix – Sheffield Students’ Union

Endsleigh Technology Innovation Award
Liverpool Guild of Students and Liverpool Students’ Union (joint nomination)
University of Derby Students’ Union
University of York Students’ Union

Further Education Students’ Union of the Year
Canterbury College Students’ Union
Cornwall College Students’ Union
Dudley College Students’ Union

Higher Education Students’ Union of the Year
Leeds University Union
Loughborough Students’ Union
Northumbria Students’ Union
Queen’s University Belfast Students’ Union
University of Bath Students’ Union
University of Exeter Students’ Guild

Best Student Media
The National and London Student Journalism Support Networks – University of London (submitted by Queen Mary Students’ Union)
Forge Media – Sheffield Students’ Union
Nouse – University of York Students’ Union

Campaign of the Year
Bradford College Students’ Union- Save the FreeCityBus
Edinburgh University Students’ Association – Write to Mike
Goldsmiths Students’ Union- Save the nursery

Club or Society of the Year
Exchange 360 – Edinburgh University Students’ Association
Mental Wealth – Cardiff University Students’ Union
SIFE Sussex – University of Sussex Students’ Union

Community Relations Award
Chester Students’ Union
Sheffield Students’ Union
Students’ Union Bournemouth University

Course Representative of the Year
Beth Fazackerley – Northumbria Students’ Union
Jonathan Isaacs –University of Salford Students’ Union
Francesca Rust & Emily Short – Anglia Ruskin Students’ Union

Equality and Diversity Award
Cardiff University Students’ Union
Northumbria Students’ Union
Queen’s University Belfast Students’ Union

Simpson/King Students’ Union Staff Member of the Year
Graham Atkinson – Northumbria Students’ Union
Kathryne Fraser – Sheffield Students’ Union
Chris Spencer – Loughborough Students’ Union

Student Journalist of the Year
Matthew Burgess – Sheffield Students’ Union
Simon Murphy – Newcastle University Union Society
Nick Stylianou- Students’ Union Royal Holloway, University of London

Student Unionist of the Year
Ben Dowen – Sheffield Hallam University Students’ Union
Kim Hughes – Dudley College Students’ Union
Tas Siddeeque – Loughborough Students’ Union

Nizam Uddin, ULU President 2009/2010, and Mazdak Alizadeh, ULU Vice President 2009/2010, are taking part in an, “adventure race” in an effort to raise £1000 for LearnBurma. The race will include a mixture of kayaking, trail running, mountain biking and navigation over 5 hours, covering 30-50km in the process.

The pair originally hatched the plan to fund raise for LearnBurma when it was founded last year by Ben Hammond, a community organiser who they had worked with closely while at ULU. The charity is currently laying the groundwork for its educational work, and will officially begin training and inspiring young people to get involved in Burma from January 2012.

By raising the £1000 target Mazdak and Nizam will help LearnBurma build long-term links with a Burmese school, bringing young people from Burma and the UK together to learn from one another.

Nizam is taking the challenge seriously. He said: “Although the main aim is to raise money for a great cause, we are both very competitive so have already begun training and getting into shape for the event, which I expect will be a long and arduous journey! We’ll be adding updates to our page so keep checking it out to see how we get on.”

CHECK OUT THEIR FUNDRAISING PAGE HERE

Mazdak is hopeful of raising a large sum. He said: “We are hoping to raise as much money as possible, £1000 is really our minimum target. It’s a great cause so please donate, and no amount is too small. We are really looking forward to both the physical challenge of the event and the challenge of fundraising as much as we can.”

For more information on Learn Burma, you can visit their website on www.learnburma.org.

SOAS outsources all food services to Sodexo, with their current contract running out in August.

A letter to the CEO of Sodexo, from SOAS Student’s Union, reads: “SOAS Students’ Union stands together with student organizations in the United States to resolve persistent human rights violations by Sodexo, a food services contractor at many of our universities in the United Kingdom.”

There is currently a widespread campaign in America to remove Sodexo from all universities and SOAS Students’ Union are hoping to develop that campaign in the UK.

In London, it is unknown exactly how many Universities have contracts with Sodexo but Students’ Unions from Birkbeck and the Institute of Education recently joined the campaign to terminate their college’s contracts with the company.

Ashok Kumar, LSE Students’ Union Education Officer, said: “We’re working with the National Union of Students to ask Students’ Unions that may have contracts with Sodexo to break them and refuse bidding until demands to freedom of association are met. Certainly from this point onward, the LSE Students’ Union will use our mandate on ethical contracting and investing to refuse any contracts to Sodexo be it security, food, or any other service Sodexo may provide.”

This summer, SOAS’ food service contract with a controversial multinational corporation will expire, and the Students’ Union will ensure the company cannot return to our school until it resolves a series of human rights violations overseas.

The SOAS Students’ Union stands together with student organizations in the United States to resolve persistent human rights violations by Sodexo, a food services contractor at many of our universities in the United Kingdom. Based on independent and third-party reports from Human Rights Watch, the TransAfrica Forum, a Commission of Inquiry on Colombia, and United Students Against Sweatshops, we are deeply concerned about this corporation’s pattern of noncompliance with the very United Nations and International Labour Organization standards to which Sodexo itself has publicly committed.

The Students’ Union is proud to say that Sodexo will lose its contract with SOAS this August. This decision came after the Students’ Union stood against a renewal of Sodexo’s contract when it was learned that Sodexo profited through contracts at Guantanamo Bay, detention centres for asylum-seekers, and US military bases in Afghanistan.

SOAS students and staff ran a high profile Sod Sodexo campaign, similar to those happening on the other side of the Atlantic this spring. Students staged occupations of the Brunei Suite (Sodexo’s base on campus) to emphasize how strongly we felt that Sodexo had no place at our university. A number of strategies were adopted, including an all-out boycott of the canteen whilst strategically instituting catering requirements to ensure that Sodexo could no longer provide an adequate service.

We commend students in the United Students who have, in recent weeks, been forced to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to urge their own universities to terminate contracts with Sodexo worth many millions in U.S. dollars. We express our support especially to those fifty-six students who have been arrested in the last month during a wave of sit-ins at the offices of university presidents who have rejected students’ demand to drop Sodexo.

Today we declare our intention to do everything within our power to ensure Sodexo will be excluded from the contractual pool for any future contract at SOAS until and unless the corporation takes the following basic steps to prove it is serious about compliance with international labour standards, as has been communicated previously to Sodexo by United Students Against Sweatshops, various organisations of Sodexo workers and other advocates:

1. Re-hire Carina Mieses and the other Sodexo workers fired in the Dominican Republic after leading efforts to demand unpaid wages and forming the union SitrasodexoDO.

2. Obey the order of the Colombian Labor Ministry and begin bargaining in good faith with Sodexo workers and their union Sinaltrainal.

3. Publicly agree to recognize, without delay, workers’ unions through whichever legal method workers choose to pursue, which in the United States must include the majority sign-up or “card check” method.

4. End sub-poverty wages for Sodexo workers at U.S. universities by raising wages to a level such that a full-time worker would learn no less than the Federal Poverty Threshold for a family of four, and publicly commit to working towards paying a “living wage” such that full-time workers can afford the local costs of basic necessities.

We are now encouraging all Students’ Unions in the UK to ensure that Sodexo does not continue to operate on our campuses until said demands are met.

Sincerely,

Sebilio Uribe, Jasper Kain and Milaad Rajai
SOAS Students’ Union co-Presidents

Students were prevented from leaving UCL premises until police had investigated the incident, with many being moved to the UCL Library for their safety.

On twitter, students trended on the topic. @KushalP said: “Bomb scare down by UCL and UC Hospital. They’re locking people in the library. That’s one way to get students to revise.”

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan police said they received a call about a potential bomb threat at UCL but that it is believed to have been a, “hoax” after an investigation found no evidence.

Students and academics campaigned against charging £9,000 fees, with the Academic Board, consisting of lecturers and research staff,
voting to charge £8,000.

All the English research-intensive universities in the Russell and 1994 Groups have so far settled for £9,000.

A statement released by LSE said that the college has settled on fees below £9,000 to reflect, “the concern expressed by many members of the LSE community about the extent, and the suddenness, of the increase of home/EU fees and the impact this may have on many students and their families.

The statement added: “Despite the loss of all our teaching grant, LSE has one of the strongest financial positions of any UK university. Therefore it is able to take a distinctive position and take account of arguments of principle in this area, while continuing to invest in teaching, the student experience and the estate.”

In addition to Government support and support available from The National Scholership Programme, LSE will provide support for students
coming from a household income of less than £42,600 per year, with students receiving £3,500 per year if they come from a household income of less than £18,000 per year.

Professor Judith Rees, LSE Director, said, “We are determined to preserve academic standards and ensure that all students with the ability to benefit are not deterred from applying to LSE. In recent years we have put a great deal of resource into widening participation activities and are delighted that we can now expand these. Our new fee package allows us to provide exceptional value for all students while  continuing to target funding on the poorest.”

Universities wanting to charge more than £6,000 fees have to  submit an Access Agreement to the Office of Fair Access (OFFA)  detailing the measures they will take to help students’ from  disadvantaged backgrounds. The LSE submitted a proposed agreement  before making a final decision on the fee level.

The fees increase will come into force in September 2012.

The University of London is proposing to remove the role of Warden in the Intercollegiate Halls of Residence in order to convert the space occupied by the Wardens’ flats into more than 50 new student bedrooms. Find out more.

We are aware that people hold various views both for and against this proposal. We take these views seriously and we are therefore consulting widely before making a decision.

If you wish to contribute your views, please send them, in confidence, to hallsconsultation@london.ac.uk by Friday 17 June.

The motion, proposed by James Haywood, Goldsmiths Students’ Union President-elect, mandates ULU to, “institute thorough research into ULU investments and contracts with companies, including sub-contractors, that may be implicated in violating Palestinian human rights as stated by the BDS movement.”

Exactly how the motion will affect ULU is unclear, as it is not known whether ULU currently uses goods or products sourced from Israel or from organisations falling under The BDS National Committee’s guidelines.

Sean Rillo Raczka, incoming ULU Vice President, said: “I’m delighted that ULU has passed this BDS policy on Israel.  We stand in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people, and as Vice President next year I will ensure that the University of London Union does not give profit to those denying the human rights of the Palestinians.”

Haywood added:  “We have seen throughout history that boycotts are a crucial nonviolent tactic in achieving freedom, and target institutions, not individuals.”

The ULU Trustee Board, which oversees all legal and financial issues of the union, must have representation from at least one external trustee and a maximum of three external trustees. These appointments are made by a committee and then approved by ULU Senate. Currently, there is one External Trustee sitting on the board, since two External Trustees recently left.

At the last meeting of ULU Senate, the proposal to appoint two new External Trustees to fill the current vacancies was voted down. Some sabbatical officers, in particular Birkbeck Union Chair Sean Rillo Raczka and UCL Students’ Union Education Officer Michael Chessum, do not believe External Trustees should sit on the Board of Trustees at all. They feel that, as a Students’ Union, decisions should only be made by students. For example, LSE Students’ Union does not have External Trustees on their Trustee Board.

The President and Vice-President both sit on the Trustee Board, along with four elected Student Trustees. Raczka feels that to allow three External Trustees would give too much representation to non-student voices.

Daniel Valentine, one of the current Student Trustees, argued against this, saying that each Trustee is selected for particular skills in finance, law or business, to help oversee the running of the union. Therefore, all three Trustees are needed as they bring different skills to the table. Valentine added that often, because of work commitments, External Trustees are unable to attend meetings and so having three accounts for the expected absence of one or two External Trustees at each meeting.

Raczka proposed that each Trustee be voted upon separately. Senate agreed to do so, voting in favour of Stuart deBoos’s appointment but choosing not to appoint Jim Glennon. Although eight Senators voted in favour of Glennon’s appointment and only five voted against, ratification of an appointment of an External Trustee requires a two thirds majority.

Bio: Stuart deBoos
DeBoos is a London School of Economics alumni and is currently the Finance, Facilities and Membership Director of The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, a professional body, learned society and registered trade union with 50,000 members and annual turnover of £13M. He has held numerous positions over the years, at various non-profit organisations in the housing and real estate sectors. As a qualified accountant, his roles have included financial controller, accountant and operations manager. He has also served on Trustee boards in the UK, providing financial and strategic management skills to several housing trusts and associations.