Cheese Grater Magazine - issue 32

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The Cheese Grater The award-winning student magazine of UCL Union

Issue 32 - December 2011

THIS MONTH Johnson Resigns

Pi Newspaper in “transphobia” scandal p.3

Malc’s Mastectomy

www.cheesegratermagazine.org

NO ROOM AT THE No. 25 March 2010

HOLIDAY INN? Provost charges College for expenses while travelling as part of a trade delegation

A new home for the Portico dome? p.4

O Little Town of Bentham-hem

Provosty the Snowman’s Novel Noël p.4

Zelter Skelter

Is Eastern European philosophy on the slide? p.5

Hey Sportsfans!

FIFA boss argues the toss; spouts racist dross p.6

Four Hackings and a Funeral

Leveson no phone unturned p.7

Movember, Mo’ problems

“I was just checking his prostate” p.8

Le Royal Meridien Hotel, Abu Dhabi Hannah Sketchley As if a salary of £376,190 a year were not enough, UCL has been funding the lavish lifestyle of UCL Provost, Professor Malcolm Grant as he travels the world as part of a trade delegation on supposed UCL business, according to a Freedom of Information request made by The Cheese Grater. While on a tour of the Middle East in February 2010 with then Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson, Grant spent one night in Le Meridian Royal Hotel in Abu Dhabi, and another two in the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar. The cost to College for the three night stay: £878.10.

The Provost’s Office vehemently denies that he was there in an ambassadorial capacity and maintains that gaining governmental approval for the opening of the UCL Qatar Campus and discussion with the Emir of Qatar falls within his College purview rather than in his role as Business Ambassador, but the fact remains that UCL has shelled out nearly a thousand pounds in hotel expenses for this trip alone. When The Cheese Grater called Le Meridian seeking prices for the coming February, it was offered a room costing just £74.18, including taxes. Even the luxurious Diplomat Suite came in a snip at £278.41 for the night, a far cry from the

£425.76 UCL was charged by Grant. Grant does not lay off the heavy spending when on official business: he amassed £18,707.90 in the academic year 2009–10 and £19,335.30 in the year preceding that, sometimes spending almost £500 per night on hotels whilst away. He clocked up an entertainment bill of £2113.22 and a further £1284.96 phone bill over the year. Correction: This article was originally published stating that the Provost stayed only one night in the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar. We have been informed that the figure of £452.34 actually covers two nights stay in the hotel.


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