Bournemouth University
Student Publishing House
The university has launched its own publishing house, Fresher Publishing, in order to promote the work of aspiring authors. Based at the MediaSchool, it will provide support to student writers, and offer a platform for publishing. At its launch the house showed its first publication, a collection of short stories written by final year students entitled Fresh. Emma Scattergood, senior lecturer at BournemouthUniversity and Fresher’s editorial director, has spearheaded the project: “Having our own publishing press is a great way of allowing our students to get valuable practical experience and, I hope, will go a step further in establishing Bournemouth, and especially the university, as a centre of creative writing.”
University of London
The End for London Student Newspaper
University of London’s student newspaper, London Student faces an uncertain future following confirmation that its funding will be cut next year. The London Student is billed as Europe’s largest student run newspaper. Started in 1979, it currently represents over 120,000 students in the capital. Previously the post of editor has been a paid position, but the university has confirmed that “the post of editor will no longer be funded from the college subscriptions, which have now been redirected to support Student Union activity within each individual college in the federal university.” The current editor of London Student, Oscar Webb, said: “The option of running London Student purely on advertising revenue is, I believe, unsustainable.”
University of East London
Anti-Gay Islamic Preacher Banned from University
Murtaza Khan, an Islamic preacher who urged for gay people to be thrown off mountains, has been banned from attending an event at the university. He was due to speak at the Islamic Society’s Annual Dinner, but the event has now been cancelled following concerns. A statement released by the University of East London said: “The Islamic Society will not be permitted to use any of UEL’s facilities or premises to host this event. We have made it very clear to the organisers that the University will not tolerate segregation or hatred in any form.”
Natalie Irving