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C OURIER THE
thecourieronline.co.uk · Issue 1241 Monday December 5 2011
The Independent Voice Of Newcastle Students
Est 1948
Lecturers descend on Tyneside to save pensions page 5 Girl dies on campus in tower fall George Sandeman News Editor
Protestors march against pension reforms proposed by the Government. Representation was present from the TUC, Unison, Unite and the academic lecturers union the UCU. Photography: Sam Tyson
A woman has died after falling from the Claremont Bridge Building on Friday December 2. The Emergency Services received a report of the incident at 12.32pm and responded with police, ambulance and �ire services as well as a doctor. It is believed the woman did not die instantly but was later declared dead at the scene. The area between the Devonshire Building and the Claremont Bridge Building, which adjoins Claremont Tower, was cordoned off by Police. A screen was later erected whilst emergency services continued their investigation. The Courier can also disclose an eye-witness account of a student who happened upon the scene moments after the woman fell. Cycling past the Devonshire Building he and a friend encountered “a girl on the �loor with two University staff around her, one checking her pulse. The other stood up [speaking] on the phone. The member of staff on the phone said: ‘We need someone here quickly, her pulse is fading fast.’” In response to the incident Newcastle University released a statement saying: ‘We are working with the police to establish the facts in this tragic incident. We will be offering counselling for any student or member of staff affected.’ The next of kin are being informed whilst the results of a post-mortem examination are being established.
Students pay Uni £32,000 damages
• 2010/11 freshers in halls pay thousands • £280,900 collected since 2003 George Sandeman News Editor
In a span of nine months Newcastle University’s Accommodation Service charged students over £32,000 in damage costs. After a Freedom of Information re-
quest The Courier revealed that in the academic year 2010/2011 students living in University halls were charged on 1068 separate occasions. The Courier can also disclose that since the academic year 2003/2004 (inclusive) the Accommodation Service has charged students for damage to halls on 7180 separate occasions
amounting to a total cost of over £280,900. In particular, the 928 residents of Richardson Road were charged, in 2010/11, for over 830 incidents of damage, a record high since 2003, the beginning of the records we attained. For those �irst years these charges amounted to over £20,000.
Residents of Richardson Road have historically accounted for nearly two thirds of the total value of damage costs in any given year since 2003. In contrast, those living across the cow �ield in Castle Leazes were charged a total of £313.67 for three incidents in 2010/11. Additional �igures obtained by The
Courier show that in the academic year 2010/2011 over £6000 worth of carpets have been either patched, replaced or repaired in Richardson Road. Carpets are patched, rather than replaced, only when the damaged carpet had been patched previously. Continued on page 4