NEWS

Western Eye readers have the chance of snapping up one of three very special Disturbia Clothing T Shirts this month.

Next week UWE Vice Chancellor Steve West will be taking part in a live on-air interview on Hub Radio.
 
We need your questions and suggestions to put to the man in charge of UWE.
 
Email western.eye@uwe.ac.uk with your suggested questions.
 
Tune in live on 1449AM or http://www.hubradio.co.uk next Tuesday 16th February from 1400

On February 24th, universities across the country will hold a Day of Action against the arms trade and university funding links to it.

The movement is organised by non government organisation (NGO) Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) which works towards the abolition of the international arms trade.
CAAT maintain that British weapons used in Gaza continue to be a major theme and that some UK universities continue financial affiliation with the arms trade.

Over recent years I have been continually bemused by the anti-victim stance the British Judicial system seems to have favoured.

There have been a catalogue of rulings, from Paul Clarke who was charged and sentenced to five years for handing in a shot gun to police which he found at the bottom of his garden to Renate Bowling, 71 years old, charged with assault after prodding a youth after he had been throwing stones at her house.

This month I want to talk about something that I’m sure cannot have escaped the notice of everyone at UWE.

The other day I boarded the bus home from Frenchay, showed my ticket to the bus driver who said “Yup fine, how are you pal?” with a jolly little chuckle. I almost stared open mouthed before firing back the obligatory “Ah not too bad, yourself?”

Since the vast HP2 building was opened to UWE, the Exhibition and Conference Centre has been used as the location for 22,000 sittings.

The transition from using up to 60 different rooms at any one time to one room segregated into six zones was intended, among other things, “to meet the needs of students” Vice Chancellor Steve West stated in a 2008 press release on the UWE website.

Generally, it was well organised and the invigilators were well informed with regards to the new procedures.

Writers ranging from celebrities to journalists to bloggers to academics are calling for a reform of the English libel laws.

The 200 year old laws, cover slander (spoken defamation) and libel (written defamation) have come under fire from the Libel Reform Campaign (LRC).

The LRC claim the current laws are outdated, stating the law “was designed to serve the rich and powerful, and does not reflect the interests of a modern democratic society”.

In 2011 Bloodhound SSC (SSC stands for supersonic car) will attempt to smash the land speed record set by Thrust SSC 13 years ago and push past 1000 mph for the first time.

But while the news surrounding Thrust burned brightly and then rapidly faded away; the Bloodhound team hope that once the dust settles this time, the real story will only just be beginning. Bloodhound’s prime objective is to inspire the next generation of British scientists.

Haiti, once a wealthy French colony is now one of the poorest countries in the world.

The New Year has started anything else but well. On the 12th of January at 4.53pm local time a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country causing horrendous damage and loss of life.

According to official government figures, the death toll has amounted to approximately 150,000 people. Other estimations approach 200,000.

On 8th of January all students received an email regarding the severe weather conditions which stated “If the campus is still open, you are expected to attend exams and hand in work as normal- any failure to do so could affect your status as a student due to the University’s Academic Regulations” a scary prospect for some students who have been snowed in across the country.