News

Jim McCormick, a Somerset businessman, has been arrested on fraud charges for exporting millions of dollars worth of devices which he claimed could detect bombs from up to a kilometre away, though expert investigation has determined that there is nothing inside them which could conceivably do so, and scientific tests show them to perform no better than chance. The ADE-651, as it is known, has been described as a “glorified dowsing rod”. The Iraqi government has spent $85 million on the devices, and many other governments have been using them to detect bombs and weapons.

The Students' Union's Refresh Week ran from Monday 8th February to Sunday 14th February. Refresh Week aims to remind all students what the Students' Union has to offer which can enhance the student experience at Bath, whilst providing something of that Freshers’ Week feeling. In addition to a well-attended Refresh fair, which took place on the Friday, there were day-long events throughout the week providing opportunities to find out more about the new Student Centre and on housing, particularly.

Pharmacy students at the University of Bath this week welcomed a new colleague to their faculty, who will hopefully stick around longer than the customary 4 years it takes to earn a degree.

The SimMan 3G, or simply “Simon” as he affectionately dubbed by the department, is a life-sized model that talks, breathes and reacts to medicines in the same way as a real human, giving students a chance to practice their diagnostic skills and put theory into practice.

RAG week

This Saturday, campus will host the annual RAG Week, which aims to raise money for a number of local charities, including Sue Ryder Care and Julian House.

Among the week's many events will be a Bierkeller, Silent Disco, Gunk-A-Sabb, Speed Dating, and the recently renamed Auction of Promises. Further information can be found at www.bathrag.com/ragweek or on the RAG Week Facebook group.

Anyone wishing to help out at the events should email ragweek@bathrag.com.

Donate With Love event a success

Maths student and Bath Jets cheerleader Kate Rodger has reached the final of Miss University, a nationwide beauty pageant which aims to raise money for the Joshua Foundation, a charity which provides holidays and event tickets for children with terminal cancer. Ms Rodger will be one of nineteen students from British universities taking part in the event, which will take place in Oceana nightclub in Cardiff on March 1st, and will feature three rounds in which competitors pose on a catwalk in various outfits.

Nominations for Sabb positions are open from now until Tuesday March 9th. A weekend of campaigning will begin three days later, and voting will open on Monday 15th. There are six positions, each of which has different responsibilities within the Union. Any registered student can stand as a Sabb by registering themselves at http://www.bathstudent.com/elections/.

Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast: President Laurent Gbagbo has sacked the government and electoral commission ahead of elections which were originally scheduled for 2005, when Gbagbo’s term expired, but have since been scheduled and postponed six times. The commission stands accused of adding 429,000 people to the voting roll before their identity had been checked. Opposition leaders have described the move as a ‘coup’, and stated that they no longer accept Gbagbo as the country’s leader.

Following a Presidential election marred by violence and accusations that incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa used state resources to aid his campaign, a political crisis has broken out in Sri Lanka, triggered by the arrest of the defeated candidate, former army General Sarath Fonseka, on February 8th. During the previous week, his office was raided and fifteen of his staff arrested.

This year the National Student Survey (NSS) is being launched at the University of Bath on Monday 8th February. The NSS is an annual survey which started in 2005 and is carried out at all universities in the UK on behalf of the National Union of Students (NUS). The survey, which is exclusively for final year undergraduates, is an opportunity to give feedback on the good and bad aspects of degree courses.

Nominations have opened for the University of Bath Teaching Awards, which recognise significant contributions by staff to the academic lives of students. There are four awards covering a range of areas including curriculum design, content, delivery, pastoral support, leadership and research. The deadline for nominations is Friday 12th March 2010. Undergraduate and postgraduate students are encouraged to submit their nominations for these awards; these need to be any more than a few points demonstrating why a particular member of staff is deserving of recognition.