The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 28 August 2013.
UK: New campaign to highlight meningitis risk for students
A former UK student, David Coppin, is launching a national adolescent awareness campaign to warn young people of the dangers of meningitis, reports The Independent. The campaign will be run through the Meningitis UK/Meningitis Trust, and will highlight the risk to young people, especially those returning to education establishments for the winter, when cases peak. Coppin, who has recovered from two bouts of the disease, said: "It's a hard disease to diagnose - so I want everyone across the country to learn the symptoms and keep an eye on each other."
Singapore: Yale-NUS liberal arts college officially open
Yale University and the National University of Singapore (NUS) formally opened their new jointly run liberal arts college in Singapore yesterday, reports Channel News Daily. The inauguration ceremony included the presentation of 100 books to the new college, authored by prominent alumni of both Yale and NUS. Singapore's president, Tony Tan Keng Yam, was present at the event, and said the country's first liberal arts college promised to offer a "new model of liberal arts education, built upon the strengths and essential elements of liberal arts education today".
South Africa: University closes after police use rubber bullets on students
Students at the Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, have been told to leave campus after their protest against an ongoing strike by the lecturers ended in violence, reports Capital News. Police used rubber bullets on them, resulting in the hospitalization of almost a dozen students. A spokeswoman for the university, Angela Church, said: “we can’t tolerate a situation where our students are at risk and where safety and security is an issue… So we have taken a decision that students must go home.” Students were protesting about the lack of tuition over the last five weeks, because their lecturers are striking over pay.
New Zealand: Auckland University wins award for animal welfare
The University of Auckland has won the 2013 National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee (NAEAC) Three Rs award (replace, reduce, refine), for its work in reducing and refining the usage of animals in scientific research, reports Scoop. The Circulatory Control Laboratory from the Department of Physiology and the Auckland Bioengineering Institute’s Implantable Devices Group developed and validated wireless physiological monitoring tools. According to the NAEAC chairperson Dr Virginia Williams, these tools enable “refinements through reduced need for handling the animals, and reductions in animal usage worldwide.”