 |
 |
|
 
|
|
Univers Online
Univers, the independent magazine of Tilburg University
This website features blogs, newsupdates and everything you need to know about Tilburg's student life, education & science and things-to-do in Tilburg city.
On Thursdays, grab the latest Univers issue from the red displays all around campus, with two pages in English.
News or ideas?
Contact Lieke Meertens: univers@uvt.nl
WANTED! DEAR-WRITERS
We are looking for new Dear writers! If you would like to contribute a letter, please contact Lieke Meertens at univers@uvt.nl
ANNOUNCEMENTS
From faculties, service departments, student associations and others. [read more]
The editiorial staff of Univers is housed at the second floor of the Prisma Building - room P2.137
What is RSS?
|
|
 |
Last update: Tuesday 09 February 2010 |
|

|
Morag Goodwin (Ad)venturing Abroad
Roel Mehlkopf Ahead of the curve
|
|
An internship can flip your student life upside down. Sandra R. Hechler, master's student of International Business from Germany, blogs about it. [read more]
Information Management students (IBIM) follow a special programme which sends them to the U.S. for one and a half year and to Spain for six months. [read about their experiences]
Which pubs should you avoid like the plague and what's the perfect place to spend your dosh? Univers has reviewed all the pubs, bars and bistros in the city centre. [The ultimate Tilburg Nightlife Handbook]
Internet tips & tricks [Go to]
What? Night Mayor Café | Where? Paradox, Telegraafstraat 62 | When? Thursday 11 February, 21.00hrs. [Go to]
Andrew Cartwright, Campus Poet of Tilburg University, posts poems, thoughts, dreams & more on his blog, The Stiletto Crow Poetry Show. [Go to]
|
|
MEANWHILE ABROAD
Student draws fire for suggesting 'Cowboys vs. Indians' theme
KDVR.COM - A Colorado State University student has accidentally sparked a firestorm of controversy by encouraging fans to wear Native American war paint to the men's home basketball game this weekend. [5 Feb]
Student sells her virginity online to pay for tuition
Times Online - A 19-year-old New Zealand student has auctioned her virginity to a stranger for almost £20,000 to help fund her university tuition fees. [3 Feb]
Icon lost - Jamaica mourns Nettleford
The Gleaner - Jamaica lost one of its most revered cultural figures last night when Professor Rex Nettleford, vice-chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), died. [3 Feb]
Australia connects Papua New Guinea to rest of the world
PRWire - Australian technology groups will install wireless access points across Papua New Guinea to connect it to an Asia Pacific research network. [1 Feb]
Students beat and starve girls in initiation
NYDailynews - Six American uni students have been arrested for allegedly torturing pledges who wanted to join their sorority. One girl had to be hospitalized. [28 Jan]
Italy: Over 30 and still living with mom
CSMonitor - More and more bamboccioni – Italian for grown-up kids – still live with their parents because they can't afford to find their own homes. [28 Jan]
Stanford student was victim of Google cyber attack
ABC - A 20-year-old Stanford University student is one of the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack from China on Google and others. [15 Jan]
Students only have '10-minute attention span'
BBC - University students have average attention spans of just 10 minutes and many miss lectures because of the need for part-time jobs, research suggests. [12 Jan]
Student's funeral fuels more protest in Venezuela
CNN - The killing of 19-year-old Jesus Eduardo Ramirez, brought to the forefront long-running tensions between opponents and supporters of President Hugo Chavez. [10 Dec]
More than 200 arrested in student protests
AP– Iran threatened tougher action against protesters Tuesday after more than 200 were arrested during marches by tens of thousands at universities across the country. [8 Dec]
Top scientists attack funds plan
BBC – Some of the UK's most brilliant scientists are opposing plans to give extra funds to university research that has an economic benefit. [3 Dec]
Facebook de-friending carries a sting
Health & Fitness Blog – How do you feel when you discover you’ve been de-friended by someone on Facebook? Psychologist tells how to de-friend with sensitivity. [30 Nov]
Students And Professors 'Friending' On Facebook
CityTownInfo – College students and their professors are increasingly utilizing Facebook--not just to learn more about each other, but as a teaching tool. [13 Nov]
German students protest university reforms
Deutsche Welle – German university students staged demonstrations across the country on Thursday to protest recent reforms to the country's degree system and tuition fees. [12 Nov]
Students to live in shipping containers
Brisbane Times – University students in Australia will soon be living in shipping containers but it's not the horror story you might imagine. [9 Oct]
Turkish student throws shoe at IMF chief
Reuters – A Turkish student threw a shoe at IMF Managing Director Strauss-Kahn as he made a speech to economy students in Istanbul. [1 Oct]
California students protest big tuition hikes
Reuters – Students and faculty at California's top public universities cut classes on Thursday and protested against a 32 percent rise in tuition. [24 Sept]
Beijing students protest teacher's detention
AP – Nearly a hundred university students gathered outside a Beijing district police bureau Sunday to demand the release of a lecturer who they believe is being held unfairly by authorities. [20 Sept]
Yale student's body found behind lab wall
LA Times – Yale University mourns the graduate student, whose body was found stuffed into a wall at the lab where she worked. A lab technician is said to be a suspect. [15 Sept]
Cheating Belgian students disqualified after bragging on Facebook
Expatica.com – The Flemish Exam Contestation Council accepted comments on Facebook as evidence and proof of fraud. [26 Aug]
University students 'have more friends'
Politics.co.uk – People who go to university have more best friends than those who don’t, a new report revealed today. [18 Aug]
Editor quits after journal accepts bogus science article
Guardian – The editor-in-chief of an academic journal has resigned after his publication accepted a hoax article. [18 Jun]
Chancellor denounces attacks on students
Tehran Times – University of Tehran Chancellor Farhad Rahbar has issued a statement condemning the attack on the university’s students on Monday morning. [12 Jun]
Egypt quarantines university dorm over H1N1 cases
Reuters - Egypt has detected the H1N1 flu virus in two students at the American University in Cairo and has put 140 more under quarantine. [8 Jun]
12 students and teachers killed in Baku college shooting
BBC - A gunman has shot dead 12 students and teachers at an international top training institute in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku. [30 Apr]
Opinion: The State of Ghana’s University Student
Joy Online - Sanitation, sky rocketing fees for programmes; a closer look at the state of the university student in Ghana may not reveal a pleasant story. [20 Apr]
'New UK visa rules for students discriminate'
Visa Bureau - The new UK visa rules are claimed to be discriminating against international students, according to 35 protesting academics. [15 Apr]
Facebook fans do worse in exams
Times Online - Research finds social networking website Facebook is damaging students’ academic performance. [11 Apr]

Obama aces test by local students
Hurriyet - US President Barack Obama spoke with Turkish university students and answered their questions in an intimate town hall-style meeting during his second day in Istanbul. [8 Apr]
Student rescued from rubble of Italy earthquake
The Telegraph - A woman student (24) was found alive in the rubbles of the Italian earthquake, where a dormitory collapsed at the University of L'Aquila. [7 Apr]
Politicians beware: students are mobilising
The Herald - A total of 6659 people voted in the Edinburgh University Students' Association elections last month. It was the biggest student poll in UK history. [7 Apr]
Most university students fear math
ScienceDaily - Six out of every 10 university students, regardless their field of study, present mathematical anxiety, according to a research work carried out at the University of Granada. [2 Apr]
Academics petition over 'spying'
BBC - From next March, universities in the UK will be expected to monitor whether overseas students are attending tutorials. [10 Dec]
Writers risk backlash with apology for Armenian genocide
Guardian - Academics and writers in Turkey have publicly apologized for the alleged genocide suffered by Armenians at the hands of Ottoman forces during the first world war. [8 Dec]
How happiness can be catching
Guardian - Happiness is catching, new research has confirmed, and depends on how cheerful about life your friends feel. [4 Dec]
Protesters call for university beauty contest to be banned
This is London - Hundreds of undergraduates in London have applied to take part in a beauty contest to be named Miss University London. Protesters say it is degrading. [3 Dec]
Carleton students reinstate fundraising for cystic fibrosis
National Post - Public outcry, both on campus and around Canada, pressured a student association to reconsider its decision to no longer raise money for cystic fibrosis research. [1 Dec]
China executes researcher on spying charges
IHT - Despite U.S. and European appeals, Wo Weihan, a biomedical researcher convicted of espionage by a Chinese court was executed Friday. [28 Nov]
'MySpace suicide' case expands web law
Washington Post - In what legal experts are calling America's first cyber-bullying verdict, a Missouri mother has been convicted of impersonating a teenage boy online in a hoax that led to a young girl's suicide. [28 Nov]
Actor robots take Japanese stage
BBC - A robot made its theatrical debut (both for itself and all of its kind) at Japan's Osaka University. [27 Nov]
More student pot busts reported
Japan Times - Four students were arrested for violating the Cannabis Law in Japan. One of them 'harbored an interest in cannabis through a lecture on the Netherlands'. [16 Nov]
Hate crimes up on American campuses, group says
Philadelphia Inquirer - Two national groups report a surge of racial incidents on college campuses, all in the wake of Barack Obama's election as president. [15 Nov]
Maelstrom Over Metadata
Inside Higher Ed - A change in policy for how libraries can use and share online catalog data is causing a backlash among open-access proponents and some librarians. [14 Nov]
7 students injured in blast at student housing
IHT - Seven French students were injured when explosives they were handling went off, causing a blast at a student housing unit. [12 Nov]
US student bailed out of Iran jail
San Francisco Chronicle - The US graduate student in an Iranian jail was freed on bail Monday but still faces charges relating toher research of the country's women's rights movement. [10 Nov]
Joyous Obama supporters take to the streets
CNN - College students around the US flew out of their dorms and flooded campuses as Obama's victory was announced. [5 Nov]
Turkish students sued for protest slogans
UPI - Eight students at Turkey's Kocaeli University violated a penal code article by shouting 'Get out Gendarmerie, universities are ours' during a recent protest. [3 Nov]
Iran holding American student in prison
AP - An American university student in Iran to visit family and research women's rights has been arrested and held in prison for more than a week, rights group Amnesty International said. [24 Oct]
Taiwan student dies during fast food binge
Reuters - A graduate student died Thursday as he was about to win a competitive eating contest (and $60) at a college in central Taiwan. [24 Oct]
Bulgarian students prefer UK universities for higher education
Sofia Echo - UK universities are among the most desirable destinations for young Bulgarians. Denmark and the Netherlands also rank high. [23 Oct]
Police to break up student protests
Ansa.it - Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday he would send in police to break up sit-ins by students at schools and universities as a second day of nationwide protests against proposed education cuts got under way. [22 Oct]
Judge orders hip-hop fan to listen to Beethoven
Guardian - A noise-polluting rap fan in Illinois is given a dose of the old Ludwig Van, and just like Alex in A Clockwork Orange, he only lasted 15 minutes. [10 Oct]
Thai bus crash kills at least 22 students
BBC - At least 22 students from a technology university in north-eastern Khon Kaen province were killed and 50 badly injured when a bus overturned in eastern Thailand. [10 Oct]
University top 200 in full
Times Online - Britain has 17 universities in the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings top 100, down from 19 last year. Harvard tops the list for the fifth consecutive year. [9 Oct]
Ardhi University students storm admin...
IPPmedia - Students of Ardhi University in Dar es Salaam yesterday locked up members of the administration, pressing for the release of results of their second semester examinations. [1 Oct]
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist goes back to university
NMA - Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has enrolled in the University of Southern California (USC) to learn 'the math and academics' of musical structure. [1 Oct]
Mouldy or rotten fruit, vegetables and cheese
AP - Freshers at Bournemouth University have been warned about the increased risk of food poisoning amongst first-year students sharing fridges. [30 Sept]
Terror academics' feud to rage on
The Australian - Feuding academics are waging their own culture war over the teaching of terrorism subjects through The Australian. [22 Sept]
Stop Trying To Get Tenure and Start Trying To Enjoy Yourself
Inside Higher Ed - The best approach to a mysterious process and unreasonable demands is to ignore them, writes Gary W. Lewandowski Jr. [22 Sept]
Croatian professors snared in bribery probe
AP - Police raided several universities in the Croatian capital Thursday and questioned dozens of professors suspected of taking bribes to give students passing exam grades. [18 Sept]
Academic wins tribunal case over re-marked papers
Telegraph - An academic has won a case against a university that 'meddled' in the marking of his students' exams and gave new grades to papers he had failed. [20 August]
Turkish academics resign to protest president's appointments
Hurriyet - Turkish president Gul Tuesday appointed the new rectors of 21 universities, which sparked fierce reactions. Sixteen academics resigned from three universities. [6 August]
Students on Ice
65 international students, as well as a team of 30 scientists, polar experts, educators, artists, and environmentalists left for a two-week Arctic Expedition last weekend. [4 August]
International students to be fingerprinted
Politics.co.uk - To crack down on bogus colleges Britain has tightened visa rules for overseas students, who contribute £8.5 billion to UK economy every year. [31 July]
France challenges world university ranking
Euroactiv - The French Senate hasproposed developing a new European university ranking system to counter the powerful Shanghai world ranking. [18 July]
Students stabbed and set alight
BBC - Two French research students found stabbed to death following a flat fire in south-east London had been tied up and suffered horrific, excessive injuries. [3 July]
Dutch academics hack Oyster card
SC Magazine - Dutch academics have compromised the security of London's Oyster card, cloning it and travelling for free on the city's transport system. [24 June]
University student sings her way to big money
Daily Nation - A 21-year-old Ugandan Makerere University student won the ultimate prize - Sh5 million - in an East African talent search project. [24 June]
No more free education for non-Europeans
The Local - Sweden is to start charging tuition to non-European university students. Its higher education minister announced the plans in the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper. [23 June]
Grade inflation blamed on 'league table culture'
Guardian - Uni's award undergraduates and ignore cheating - particularly non-EU students, who pay far more in fees - marks they do not deserve in final year exams, a senior higher education figure in Britain said today. [17 June]
Why Fulbrights Matter in Gaza
Inside Higher Ed - Amid Israel's near-total ban on student travel, a former grantee in Gaza reflects on her own circumstances and those of this year's winners. [10 June]
Business and academia seek partnerships
EurActiv - European higher education is changing from a supply-driven to a demand-driven system, according to a joint university-industry report. [10 June]
Website links student borrowers with lenders
Kansas City Star - Profile on GreenNote: His name is Bill, and he needs $7,800 in student loans. Interested in helping? [9 June]
Erasmus Mundus scholarships 2008/09 awarded
Euroalert.net - More than 2,000 students and 450 teaching staff from outside Europe have been selected to receive an Erasmus Mundus scholarship. [5 June]
French higher education under threat of change
Economist - Slowly but surely, universities in France—and across all of Europe—are reforming. [5 June]
Saudi human rights activist arrested by secret police
Crooked Timber - The political science department at King Saud University asks all political science departments to exert all their pressure upon the Saudi government to release their colleague Matrook Al-Faleh. [30 May]
Anti-reform protests in Greece turn violent
Kathimerini - The rector of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was knocked down during a student protest on campus Wednesday. [29 May]
Oxford's fundraising bid to rival Ivy League
The Guardian - Oxford University will today launch a massive fundraising campaign for £1.25 billion, the largest-ever funding bid by a European university. [28 May]
Spanish follow UK's recipe
The Guardian - Spain's newly re-elected Socialist government has carried out a shake-up of the education system. It now bears some resemblance to the structure in Britain. [27 May]
McCartney receives honorary degree for 'musical genius'
Yale Daily - Paul McCartney was treated to a standing ovation when he received an honorary degree at Yale University. [26 May]
'Chaotic' late bid for EIT headquarters
EurActiv - The East German city of Jena has thrown its hat into the ring to become a candidate to host the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). [23 May]
Bologna Process is Wake-Up Call for American Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed - 'US isolation from world credentialing will hurt both students and institutions in an increasingly international labor market'', warns higher ed expert Clifford Adelman. [21 May]
Expert says txt is gr8 4 language
BBC - A linguistics expert has rejected claims that texting by mobile phone is bad for language and literacy skills. [20 May]
So, what's the attraction?
The Guardian - The university hotspots for 20 different nationalities of overseas student in the UK. [20 May]

Belgian students break Mento-and-Coke World Record
Gizmodo - Student in the Belgian town of Leuven erupted 1,500 fountains of sticky drink simultaneously [incl. video]. [19 May]
A Defense of European Languages
Inside Higher Ed - The University of Southern California’s plans to close its German department has sparked a discussion within American higher education about French, German, and Spanish versus Chinese. [15 May]
|
|