News

Sir Kenneth Dover, the former Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, has died at the age of 89. Sir Kenneth, a distinguished expert in the field of Greek, was first at the university for a 21 year spell from 1955 until moving on to posts at Oxford, Cornell and Stanford. In 1981, he was elected as the University of St Andrews Chancellor, the first in history not to be a peer or archbishop.

University officials have confirmed an outbreak of mumps in St Andrews in an announcement to students earlier today. Health officials are appealing for anyone who has not been fully immunized or does not know if they have been immunized to seek a vaccine from their GP. Symptoms of mumps include a fever, headache, and swollen glands. Officials say anyone with these symptoms should stay out of class for five days from the onset of swollen glands. Rarer and more severe symptoms can include hearing loss and sterility.

Last week, a woman in Dundee went missing on Thursday at 3am. Mary McLaren, aged 34 went missing shortly after departing from Fat Sam’s nightclub. She was last seen on CCTV walking with a man, who is described to be between the age of 30 and 45, 5ft 7inches tall, with fair hair and a moustache. The appeal to find her has been extended to St Andrews students in the hope that some of them may have been in Fat Sam’s and taken pictures.

As the University of St Andrews’ biggest and most ambitious investment, the 32 million pound medical building has finally been completed. It comprises of a lecture theatre, teaching rooms, laboratories and research units, making it a world-class medical and science facility.
The new medical building will be one of the first UK medical schools where research facilities are integrated with other sciences, such as physics and psychology. In light of this accomplishment, the university is pursuing a programme of capital investment including refurbishment of its main library.

St Andrews students have called for radical changes to the academic year, but opinions are divided on how to proceed. Almost 900 students responded to the Students’ Association semester reform survey, with key issues being financial and environmental impacts of the correct semester structure.

According to Georgina Rannard, director of representation, “three vague options” had emerged.

At a recent Royal Scientific Discussion Meeting in London on “The detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society” Dr Martin Dominik of the School of Physics and Astronomy said that rapid advances in space exploration have made the discovery of life on other planets a real possibility.

Fife councillors are speaking out against proposals to charge for car parking spaces in St Andrews. The availability of spaces is already limited for staff and students of the university, as well as local commuters. The councillors are looking for an extension to the park and ride scheme which runs to the town, or a lowering of the cost of public transport in the town.

Scotland’s latest run of inclement weather continues this evening, with hundreds of vehicles trapped on the A9 near Perth after heavy snow and downed power lines. The problems have affected the north and southbound lanes between the Broxden and Keir roundabouts. Some drivers have been left stranded since 07:30 this morning, while Police say that a fallen electricity line means that the A9 cannot be reopened until the line has been removed and the carriageways are safe for motorists to travel on.

Starting this week, the One World Society will begin its ‘Transition: St Andrews’ program. It is aimed at reducing St Andrews’ carbon footprint and creating a more eco-friendly campus.

The campaign was launched with an event in Venue 2 of the Student Union building on Monday December 7th, which featured speakers giving talks on sustainable development.

A new charity initiative called Trek Sahara, started by St Andrews University students, was successfully launched last month. The initiative is being supervised by Charity Challenge, the organisation that oversaw the high profile trek to Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief earlier this year.

Trek Sahara aims to send a group of students to complete a six-day trek through the Sahara Desert in September 2010. Fund raising events for this endeavour have already been planned and are expected to take in £20,000 for the 6 nominated charities.