In the news
Chair
of the heads of university counselling services Nigel
Humphreys was invited onto Radio 4's All in the Mind
programme to explain why mental health problems among
students are on the increase. He said: "Greater numbers
of students means a broader range of mental health difficulties.
Coupled with academic and financial pressure and the fact
that they have to work part-time as well, it all adds
up to a very stressful situation."
The
Times, Financial Times and the Daily
Telegraph all picked up on Professor Chris Thomas'
research featured in Reporter 468, which suggests
that certain species of butterfly are adapting in order
to cope with global warming. He pointed out that roughly
a quarter of British butterfly species had been extending
their range over the past 20 years to places that were
previously too cold for them.
Dr
Darren Smith's seminar about the large lesbian community
in the Hebden Bridge/ Todmorden area was reported in the
Yorkshire Post (How gay is my valley, boffin
is paid to ask) and the Observer. Dr Smith,
who is seeking £30,000 for full-scale research into the
Upper Calder Valley lesbian community, said: "I was astonished;
all received knowledge has it that lesbians gravitate
towards large metropolitan spaces, this mass movement
into the countryside is bucking every known trend."
Dr
Richard Howells was a guest on Radio 4's media discussion
programme, The Message. Among the topics of discussion
were 'spam' email and 'angelic' advertising, in which
virtue as opposed to vice might be used to sell products.
Local and world-wide radio was also on the agenda. He
regretted that much of 'local' radio just wasn't local
any more - "a record is still a record, whether you're
in Barnsley or Basingstoke" - and said a world service
which no longer broadcast to North America or Australasia
wasn't really a world service either.
As
chair of the research policy strategy group for Universities
UK, the Vice-Chancellor was invited to speak on Radio
4's PM programme on ethical funding issues in the
wake of some universities accepting contributions from
so-called 'unethical' industries. Universities UK estimate
that financial contributions to universities have grown
by 30% in three years. Professor Sir Alan Wilson said:
"Universities are there to support their community, and
industry is an important community. So it's simply that
we are engaging with a group that we ought to engage with,
and funding will come from them to support our mutual
activities."
A
number of Leeds academics have been quoted in the media
in light of the tragic events in the United States. Dr
Jason Ralph and Professor Christoph Bluth from Politics
& International Studies, appeared on ITV's Calendar
and in the Yorkshire Post respectively. Law professor
Clive Walker featured in the Times, commenting
on the difficulties involved in trying to eradicate terrorist
groups.
