- Any economic recovery is apparently unlikely to make Britons happier. The Daily Telegraph reported on 28聽November that Eugenio Proto, associate professor of economics at the University of Warwick, had found that national populations鈥 happiness levels do not increase once gross domestic product per capita exceeds $36,000. The paper noted that the UK records almost exactly that figure: 拢22,244. A paper Dr聽Proto co-authored in the journal PLoS ONE also found that richer nations than the UK, such as the US, Germany and Sweden, had slightly lower levels of happiness owing to 鈥渢he associated increased pressure of 鈥榢eeping up with the Joneses鈥欌. Vice-chancellors, some聽of whom earned in excess of聽拢400,000 in 2011-12, must be as miserable as sin.
- The Daily Mail is not known for its sympathetic treatment of social workers or single mothers, but it seems an exception can be made when it presents an opportunity to have a go at Jobcentre staff. The paper reported on 26聽November that an unemployed single mother had been advised by her local Jobcentre to delete any reference on her CV to the degree in social work that she had earned from the University of Portsmouth. The woman, Rachel Sawford, 鈥渆scaped an abusive relationship鈥 to earn the qualification, but Jobcentre staff warned her that it might 鈥渟care off鈥 potential employers from outside her field. Ms Sawford, who has student debts of 拢30,000, was not聽impressed. She told the paper: 鈥淭hey are saying everything I聽have achieved in the past four years is worthless. I want to get off benefits but I will not take my achievement off my CV.鈥
- The London School of Economics is also on the market for an聽income boost. On November, law firm Pinsent Masons announced that it was advising the institution on a 拢125聽million bond issue. A couple of years ago, bonds were touted as the great white hope for universities鈥 capital programmes in the age of austerity, but only three 鈥 De Montfort University and the universities of聽Cambridge and Manchester 鈥 have taken the plunge. Why the LSE has decided to join them is unclear but, after getting its reputational fingers burned by its connections to former Libyan dictator Mu鈥檃mmer Gaddafi, it may feel that chasing philanthropy poses a greater risk than committing to pay investors a steady rate of return.
- The reputation of eminent evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers took a hit in 2005 when he co-published a paper in the journal Nature claiming that men with more symmetrical bodies were rated better dancers. The paper was questioned at the time and two years later the Rutgers University professor began to have doubts of his own after finding alleged inconsistencies in the data used by lead author William Brown. Dr Brown, then a postdoctoral researcher and now senior lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire, denies any wrongdoing. Since then Professor Trivers has been battling publicly to convince a reluctant Nature to retract the paper. His zeal even led to his being banned from the Rutgers campus for five months in聽2012 after a heated discussion with Lee聽Cronk, a fellow author on the paper, about the case. The聽Retraction Watch website reported on 聽November that Nature鈥檚 resistance had finally been overcome after the conclusion of a Rutgers investigation. But Professor Trivers is not exactly dancing 鈥 symmetrically or otherwise 鈥 in the street. He told the site he is frustrated that the retraction notice contains no explanation of what went wrong. Bedfordshire has agreed to look again at the case.
- As university staff held a second one-day national strike on 3聽December, Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said the unions would fight on to 鈥渟top the pay cuts鈥. In a statement to members on 2聽December, Ms Hunt says she has received 鈥渓etter after letter from members whose pay levels mean they are struggling to make ends meet鈥. Staff are struggling to stay on top of mortgage payments, pay bills and feed their families, while casualised workers are worried about having enough work, she says. Unions claimed the strike would cause 鈥渨idespread鈥 disruption, but the Universities and Colleges Employers Association said a 鈥渓ow turnout鈥 had resulted in 鈥渕inimal impact鈥 on students.
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