A group of York students has won the opportunity to have their very own I-phone application developed after winning The App Challenge final, held at the Ron Cooke Hub on Wednesday, January 18.
YUSU Welfare officer Bob Hughes has warned students to be vigilant after a student loans phishing scam has been revealed.
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A flood caused by a heating system “failure” forced the university IT services to shut down many essential systems on Sunday night, causing problems for many students on the eve of their exams and assignment due-dates.
Written by Adam Thorn
Professors Pratibha Gai and Ed Boyes encountered problems while out in the country promoting nanotechnology. The Vice Chancellor, who travelled with them, returned on time, leaving them out there alone.
Their absence meant Physics' flagship Nanocentre was left without top management for weeks - causing technician Ian Wright to be charged with taking on their responsibilities.
University sources have hinted to The Yorker that the pair had similar issues previously - raising questions as to why they travelled out there in the first place.
I was bitterly disappointed with the way the situation has been handled, as was the whole department.
The professors were also in charge of dealing with students' coursework, which has led to huge difficulty for many finalists.
Chris Tattersol, an affected MA student, said: "I was bitterly disappointed with the way the situation has been handled, as was the whole department.
"It felt like they went off on a jolly leaving me to fend for myself at this crucial point in my degree and palming their responsibilities on to other staff. They didn't even let me know they were going or make any arrangements."
The university has apologised to students, telling The Yorker: "It is recognised however, that there may have been some effect on the course work of a small number of students. These students have been reassured there will be no adverse effect on their final year assessments."
The Nanocentre is seen as the jewel in the crown of York science. A £12.5m government grant helped fund the centre which examines matter on an atomic and molecular scale. The university have confirmed that they did not fund the trip and therefore didn't pay any additional expenses for the extended time in India.
Why is nanotechnology in quotes & capitalized like it's some kind of made-up science? lol
I should add that the pair are back in York (since Monday)
Uni statement in full is below:
"For the week Feb 18-22 Professor Pratibha Gai and Professor Ed Boyes were part of a University of York delegation to set up collaborations on mutual research interests and other educational exchanges between the University of York and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, in the areas of Nanoscience, the Biological Sciences and Computer Science. This is a most promising development of mutual benefit to both institutions and a number of complementary research capabilities and interests were identified.
Around this highly productive visit, the return of Professor Gai and Professor Boyes to the UK was delayed by UK visa issues. Their absence was covered by other members of staff following established procedures for such unplanned absences, for example due to illness, jury duty, travel difficulties. It is recognised, however, that there may have been some effect on the course work of a small number of students. These students have been reassured there will be no adverse effect on their final year assessments. Professors Gai and Boyes are now back in York."
As a 3rd Year Chemistry student we should have been lectured by Prof. Gai this term, we were told she was in the USA on personal business, it can be seen now that this was not the case.
As for it affecting a "small" number os students, the cohort of Yr3 chemists is ~150 clearly not a small number. The absence of Prof Gai was not covered by an alternate member of staff, the lectures were just postponed a series of times, and ultimately cancelled last Wednesday.
As a consequence this will affect our final examination studies, which will now weight other courses greater than previously planned.
It is interesting to note that the VC managed to come back right as rain...
Bionic VC! he probably had an escape rocket.
He was propelled by a stream of free champagne.
comment deleted by the author #6 - please elaborate on 'moronic'. I hardly think the picture is. As a symbol of India, the Taj Mahal is far more interesting and relevant. Bangalore is not even mentioned in the original article.
As for a picture of smiling lecturers, I think that would be more along the lines of 'moronic' and unsuitable!
Why indeed James? That is the question. Perhaps you'd like to become the photo editor . . . ?
comment deleted by the author The point of the article seems to be that 1) The lecturers were left stranded in India for over a month, and 2) that this had a negative effect on students' work.
Yes, maybe the picture isn't the most suitable, but it is hardly a bad choice. If the story was 'York lecturers left stranded in France', I don't see why a picture of the Eiffel Tower would be unsuitable. It is a symbol of the nation, and they were stranded there.
I do agree that a picture of Bangalore would be better, but this info is not in the article, and I don't think the Yorker budget can stretch to India trips. Maybe if you are that bothered you could go for them?
James this is Anonymous #8, your supposed arch-enemy. I don't think it all the time, but in this case if you have no plans to become photo editor, I don't think you should criticise the photo choice as 'moronic'. Not all of us have been lucky enough to have mummy and daddy fund field trips so that we can stroll along the beaches and through the favelas of Bangalore pretending to be intellectual before stuffing our faces with the local food and shouting drunken obscenities. Then swanning off to have a look at 'The Taj'. By the way do only the cool people call it that or is it the name of some imitation club on some beach in Goa?
Also, if you look at the headline and read the story, it is not merely incidental that they were in India.
comment deleted by the author Welcome back. I'll explain this slowly. The lecturers had been to India before. They had experienced problems in India before. They returned to India aware that they could encounter these problems again. Therefore it is not incidental that the lecturers were in India. The 'point of the article' is that the lecturers went to a location from which they knew they would have difficulty returning (that's India, if you're keeping up to speed).
Thanks for confirming my suspicions about your attitude towards drinking though. It's hardly enlightened to praise yourself for not getting wasted because "there's not much of it about" and "it's not always that easy." Have a gold star.
comment deleted by the author The first sign of an alcoholic is when they start asking other people to prove that they have a problem.
James, I confess. I've been stuck in the library trying to focus on my essay and have been using this as a distraction. In order to ensure our 'debate' was maintained, I have been deliberately provocative for my own, sick entertainment. Hence my reference to the beaches of Bangalore, a landlocked city hundreds of miles from the coast. I also doubt there are any Brazilian 'favelas' there. I didn't really believe anything I've argued (practice like this is the way to become good at 'debate').
I'm sorry. If I see you about I'll buy you a drink. Or maybe not, seeing as you're obviously such a drunk.
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