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Vice-Chancellor: impact of funding cuts exaggerated The Vice-Chancellor has publicly challenged the idea that anticipated cuts in higher education funding will damage universities’ ability to teach an increasing number of students. In an interview for the BBC’s Hardtalk programme, Professor Alison Richard claimed that the furore surrounding funding cuts approaching £450 million was subject to “exaggerations and distortions”. She told interviewer Stephen Sackur, “Is there a challenge? Yes there is. Are universities in this country incredibly imaginative and entrepreneurial? By and large yes they are. But to paint this as a landscape of disaster is a mistake.” The Vice-Chancellor’s comments come amid a climate of uncertainty surrounding university funding. The Universities Secretary, Lord Mandelson, has promised to cut public spending on higher education by £950 million over the next three years, with £449 million worth of cuts to fall in the year 2010-2011. The latest figures released by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) show that while funding for research will increase by £32 million, recurrent funding for teaching will fall in real terms by nearly £76 million compared with 2009-2010. The tuition funding shortfall is likely to have its greatest impact on student numbers, at a time when universities face pressure from the Government to widen access to
higher education courses, particularly to applicants whose school or family do not have a history of pursuing higher education. Around 6,000 university places are expected to be cut for 2010-2011 to balance university budgets, as figures released by UCAS show that university applications have risen by more than one fifth. Professor Steve Smith, President of Universities UK, warned that cuts could damage the quality of education that students receive. “In terms of university applications, we expect to see a further increase in numbers this year,” he said. “With the confirmation that student numbers will be capped again this year, we are going to see even more pressure on places and the possibility of many wellqualified students missing out. The higher education sector is prepared to take its share of the pain.” The Vice-Chancellor also spoke in favour of an increase in student numbers, at university or in “some other form of further training” despite financial pressures. She said, “Country after country is investing not simply in the quality of its higher education but in the breadth of it, increasing places. What that is telling us is that as economies mature you do need to have a workforce, and citizens, whose technical skills, training and education goes beyond that of school leavers. “If you cast that more broadly and say, ‘Do we need to build, expand and multiply the opportunities for tertiary education?’ I would say absolutely, ‘Yes.’”
ISSUE NO 714 | VARSITY.CO.UK ALASTAIR APPLETON
Sharks once roamed Fens, tooth discovery suggests AURORA HORWOOD
Livingstone: Union hero
T
uesday evening saw ex-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone grace the halls of the Cambridge Union. The much-anticipated speaker entertained a rapt audience with vehement pledges of allegiance to close friend, Hugo Chávez, contending that the Venezuelan Prime Minister is far from a dictator. Livingstone also declared his intention to run for office again in 2012. Livingstone’s substantial term as Mayor of London (2000-8) saw many notable achievements, including a successful bid for the 2012 Olympics in London and the establishment of the fi rst register for civil partnerships in the UK. Visit varsitv.co.uk to see a two-minute interview with the Labour politician, and see next week’s issue of Varsity for an extended interview. AVANTIKA CHILKOTI
A recent discovery of a shark tooth at an archaeological site near Cambridge has indicated that sharks may once have roamed the prehistoric seas of Cambridgeshire. The tooth that was discovered is thought to have belonged to a member of the Orthadocus family, an extinct type of shark which lived in the Cretaceous period approximately 100 million years ago. The find was made at Barrington Quay by amateur geologist John Drayton, 61, from Impington, and is the first tooth of its kind to be excavated in Europe. The discovery of the shark tooth is expected to help enhance our understanding of where and when sharks may have lived in the Fens. The newly-discovered Orthadocus is not the only creature to have traversed the waters of Cambridge millions of years ago. The tooth was actually unearthed just metres from the remnants of an Ichthyosaur, a giant marine reptile which resembled a cross between a fish and a dolphin. Dr Preston Miracle, from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, said, “Clearly we need to be doing all we can to protect and preserve the UK’s cultural and natural heritage – and that is true for discoveries of things that are millions of years old as well as others that may be only a few centuries old.”
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