Marquette University, Milwaukee Introduces Esports as New Varsity Sport
Marquette University (MU) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin have announced that Esports will become a varsity sport at their university, as of next year.
The Wisconsin based University, known for its sports programme, aims to support its new Esports degrees through its famous athletic school, treating them like normal sports degrees. They aim to support a wide-range of Esport games on their programme, such as fighting, shooting and sport games. Audiences will have the option to be physically in an arena or observe virtually, from home. Marquette will launch its team in 2019, with the introduction of tryouts, coaches, and regular practices. The Marquette Wire indicated that MU will also build a state-of-the-art facility to host Esports.
MU’s president Michael Lovell said “Being named after an explorer means it’s in Marquette’s DNA to define the opportunities of tomorrow and ensure we’re anticipating what future students will expect”.
Zahra Iqbal, News Editor
University of South Florida Accidentally Sends 430 False Acceptance Letters
The University of South Florida St. Petersburg says that it mistakenly sent 430 acceptance emails to applicants.
In mid-January, out of the 680 emails the university sent out, only 250 went to students that had actually been accepted, leaving 430 emails mistakenly congratulating students, telling them they have been accepted when they had not.
One applicant that received this acceptance letter by mistake was Alexandria Rizzotto. Her letter read “Once again congratulations on your admission to USFSP! We are excited to welcome you to the university and are very proud of all that you have accomplished so far!”
The letter also proceeded to discuss the students’ ‘next steps’, such as instructions for students to find their university IDs, pay their admission deposit, apply for housing, and more.
In the case of Alexandria, she received the initial acceptance email in the middle of a Saturday, only to receive the second email nearly an hour later, saying “There was an error in the system. Please disregard the previous email.”
Carrie O’Brion, the university’s Director of Marketing and Communications, said that “The remaining 430 received the acceptance email by mistake, either because their application was still under review, was incomplete or they were not selected for admission at this time.”
Sophie Denham
George Mason University Virginia: Would you trust a robot to deliver your Starbucks?
It’s no secret that the USA seems to be going through an existential crisis at the moment, but just when we thought it couldn’t get any weirder, the George Mason University of Virginia has decided to employ robots to deliver their takeaways.
Developed by Starship Technologies, a 25 strong fleet of the new inventions are now in use across campus to cater to the culinary needs of the university’s 35,000 students. Cruising at the respectable speed of four miles per hour, they may not be able to give Usain Bolt a run for his money, but according to developers, food will be with hungry students in under 30 minutes (leaving Deliveroo and Just Eat with much to explain themselves for.)
However, if the Gatwick-Dronegate mishap gives us any indication of how new technology and humans work together, it has to be questioned whether allowing robots to drive themselves around a busy campus really is the best idea.
Naturally, the mini robot army also has its very own social media accounts, so can you stay up to date with their food related missions across the university. You can follow them at @StarshipGMU on Twitter and Instagram.
Maddi Fearn
Universities Across the USA Sell Emergency Contraception Plan B from Vending Machines
Multiple Universities in the USA, such as Colombia, Stanford, and Dartmouth, have added vending machines selling Plan B emergency contraception in and around their University campuses.
The first machine was installed at the University of California Davis, after lots of campaigning by student activist Parteek Singh. He campaigned for the machines after hearing from his friends that the local pharmacies had sold out of the emergency contraceptive pill. Singh’s argument also highlighted the need for the vending machines after discovering student health centres close at 5:30pm on weekdays and are not open over the weekend, when most pills are needed.
The vending machines are called ‘Wellness To Go’, selling the pill for $10, $30 cheaper than most American drugstores. They also sell pregnancy tests, condoms, lube, tampons, and Advil.
The vending machines haven’t prompted public objections on campuses, where they’re largely seen as an extension of existing services. On most campuses the machines look like small boxes attached to a wall or dispensers resembling those for chocolate or coffee.
The machines have received some criticism, suggesting that they are promoting unsafe sex. However, universities have countered this by saying it is exactly what they are trying to avoid.
Zahra Iqbal, News Editor
University of Chester: Student Teacher Attempts to Set Ex-Girlfriend’s House Alight
20 year old Primary Education student Conor Egan, from Beverly, pushed a set of flaming wheelie bins against his ex-girlfriend’s front door of her student house in Chester.
In the early hours of May 25th last year, Miss Alton returned to her house to see the wheelie bin on fire, outside her house. This was shortly after the house mate has already been to extinguish a fire set alight by Egan at the property.
The police and fire brigade were forced to block the letter box to prevent anyone posting any flaming material into the property. Three days later, the same incident occurred.
Witnesses claim they saw a man leaving the property, who matched Egan’s description.
Chester Crown Court heard that the couple’s relationship has broken down during their time at university and Egan wanted to rekindle their romance after being kicked off his course at the University of Chester.
Zahra Iqbal, News Editor
Image: [BBC]