- Medical students are renowned for their antics, but stuffing the remains of a walrus into a coffin would seem extreme even for them. But this could be a possible explanation for the puzzling discovery of bones below St Pancras International belonging to a 4m-long Pacific walrus. 罢丑别听罢颈尘别蝉 reported on 23聽July that scientists were stumped as to how the creature, which usually migrates between the Bering and Chukchi seas, found its way to London in the early 19th century. As the bones were discovered near human remains that showed signs of dissection, one theory is that the walrus could have been sold for medical research. But given that it was placed in a coffin, could it also have some connection to Lewis Carroll鈥檚 1871 poem The聽Walrus and the Carpenter 鈥 which, in turn, helped to inspire John Lennon鈥檚 ode to the blubbery sea beast? Goo goo g鈥檍oob.
- One of the difficulties of catching internet 鈥渢rolls鈥 鈥 people who set out to deliberately antagonise, wind up, threaten or insult others online 鈥 is the anonymity that the web can afford. However, this was not a problem for anyone wishing to identify the origin of a tweet sent to University of Cambridge professor Mary Beard containing a string of crude insults. The tweet was sent from the personal, named account of Oliver Eric Rawlings, a University of Nottingham student, and was promptly seen by a family acquaintance who offered to give Professor Beard the address of his mother. Professor Beard granted young Oliver the chance to say sorry first. His next tweet? 鈥淚 sincerely apologise for my trolling. I聽was wrong and very rude. Hope this can be forgotten and forgiven xxx.鈥 Beard one, Troll nil.
- Noisy undergraduates at the British Library have made headlines again after a flurry of letters on the issue in the London Review of Books. Although the library reduced the admission age to 18 in 2004, the increased use of smartphones and tablets and the conspicuous flirting have now become unbearable for its older users: one complained that the London library is 鈥渟wamped with intruders鈥. But in The Times on 26聽July, Ben Macintyre argued that the enlivening of the institution鈥檚 reading room, used in the past by, among others, Lenin, Marx and Gandhi, was a good thing because it upheld its commitment to welcoming the 鈥渃urious鈥rom every corner of humanity鈥o, far from regretting [the] change, we should trumpet it 鈥 although not, obviously, where people are trying to read.鈥
- Are new universities unfairly cashing in on the 拢9,000 fee regime? One vice-chancellor at a Russell Group institution thinks so, claiming in 罢丑别听罢颈尘别蝉 that post-1992 universities get double funding for their disadvantaged undergraduates. In a piece on 聽July, the unnamed leader said traditional universities were losing out because they had to spend a larger chunk of their fee income on fair access than new institutions, but received hardly any money from the 拢3聽million student opportunity fund given mostly to those with high numbers of disadvantaged students: effectively, new universities were 鈥渄ouble dipping鈥 on access funds. 鈥淲hich universities need the money? It is the ones that do research,鈥 the head argued. Some may see the snipe as a shot across the bows of Madeleine Atkins, the next head of England鈥檚 funding council and vice-chancellor of Coventry University, which will receive 拢4.6聽million in student opportunity funding this year.
- The Independent鈥檚 Archie Bland finally snapped after yet another Richard III story found its way into the paper鈥檚 news pages. A second skeleton had been found in two coffins in the same Leicester car park as the Plantagenet king, which Mr聽Bland felt was 鈥測et another nail in a very thoroughly hammered coffin鈥 of a once-exciting story. But Mr Bland noted on 29聽July that the Richard III industry has only just begun, with the University of Leicester鈥檚 press office homepage advertising a聽Richard III internship, a Richard III family open day and a聽range of Richard III T-shirts, mugs, badges and notebooks. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 blame the PR bods, tenacious as they are, for putting such drivel out into the world,鈥 he wrote. 鈥淭he embarrassment sits with those of us in the media, for eating it up with such enthusiasm.鈥
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