“A scientist who created an easier-to-spread version of the bird flu said his work isn’t as risky as people fear. The US government is asking its biosecurity advisers to reconsider if the research should be made public …” (more)
[Lauran Neergaard, Huffington Post, 29 February]
“In the press release announcing the publication of the Copyright Review Committee Consultation Paper mentioned in my previous post (and which I hope will be discussed on twitter at the hashtag #CRC12), the Minister also announced the signing into law of the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012 relating to the availability of injunctions by rights-holders …” (more)
[Eoin O'Dell, Cearta, 29 February]
“Between thirty and thirty-five students from Galway universities are currently engaged in an occupation of a branch of Allied Irish Bank (AIB) on Shop Street in the city. The occupation is being led by left-wing students group Free Education for Everyone (FEE) but also includes members of Occupy Galway, Labour Youth and at least two officers from NUI Galway Students’ Union …” (more)
[Rónán Burtenshaw, University Times, 29 February]
“The battle over implementation of the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement in Europe is heating up, while the war of words over the Stop Online Privacy Act is still in play. Rightsholders have called critics of these measures ‘demagogues’ and ‘dirty tricksters’, but the critics show no sign of retreating from their opposition …” (more)
[Matthew Lasar, Ars Technica, 29 February]
“As regular readers of this blog will know, last Summer, to maximise the potential of digital industry in Ireland, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, set up the Copyright Review Committee to identify any areas of Irish copyright legislation that might create barriers to innovation …” (more)
[Eoin O'Dell, Cearta, 29 February]
“Rick Santorum, who nearly defeated Mitt Romney in yesterday’s Michigan primary and remains close to him in national polls, says that President Obama wants to force colleges on everyone because ‘he wants to remake you in his image’. If that is the President’s goal, he has chosen a very inefficient means for achieving it …” (more)
[Garry Wills, New York Review of Books, 29 February]
“The global Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) treaty aims to combat copied products and reduce online piracy. But its fine print remains a source of heated debate. Now the European Parliament wants to have a say …” (more)
[Ralf Bosen, Deutsche Welle, 29 February]
“The national conversation about affirmative action resembles a couple’s therapy session in a dysfunctional marriage: full of posturing, obfuscation, misdirection, outright lies — everything except an honest discussion of the relevant conflict. This is due in no small part to the blundering of the Supreme Court …” (more)
[Richard Thompson Ford, Slate, 29 February]
“Today, the government signed into law a controversial amendment to copyright law. ‘Irish Sopa’, as it’s dubbed, has drawn the ire of digital companies and freedom of expression campaigners for a variety of reasons. Here are six of them …” (more)
[Adrian Weckler, Business Post, 29 February]
“Junior Minister Sean Sherlock has this afternoon confirmed that the controversial statutory instrument that reinforces online copyright laws in Ireland has been signed into law …” (more)
[TheJournal.ie, 29 February]
“Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide an estimate of the number of public servants who will retire by the end of February 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil Éireann, 28 February]
“NI universities and teacher-training colleges could be controlled by two separate departments if the ministry they currently fall under is dissolved, a Stormont committee has heard. The first and deputy first ministers have proposed that the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) should be closed …” (more)
[BBC News, 29 February]
“Residents in the Castletroy estate of College Court are again ‘under siege’ from rowdy students during the annual ‘Charity Week’ in the University of Limerick, which began this week. The campus’s annual ‘Charity Week’ aims to raise thousands of euro for local charities. However, the week which was formerly known as ‘RAG week’ (Raising and Giving) – has again provoked uproar from upset long-term residents …” (more)
[Anne Sheridan, Limerick Leader, 29 February]
“The founding president of the University of Limerick has said that teachers should be required to offer their professional opinion of what course to undertake to their secondary school students. The controversial suggestion was made by UL founder Ed Walsh …” (more)
[Donal MacHenry, StudentNews.ie, 29 February]
“The expansion of higher education over the past 15 years has largely benefited middle-class rather than working-class children, a study has suggested. Analysis of data from the Economic and Social Research Council’s Understanding Society longitudinal survey shows that the proportion of people between 22 and 34 with degrees has risen by 8.6% compared to those between 37 and 49 …” (more)
[Paul Jump, Times Higher Education, 29 February]
“At a recent Science Foundation Ireland forum on how science and industry can work together for economic recovery, Mark Little, the former RTÉ broadcaster and now a social media entrepreneur, told an interesting story that captured how children have grasped information communications technology (ICT) …” (more)
[Seán Cottrell, Education Matters, 29 February]
“… But when I saw the YouTube videos displaying the students of NUI Galway and GMIT making thorough idiots of themselves, I was more than slightly annoyed. Where was the majority that voted to get rid of Rag Week altogether? Were they there setting off flares and dancing on tables in Supermacs? Probably …” (more)
[Katy Quinn, Studenty_Galway, 29 February]
“… Speaking at an ASTI seminar for principals and deputy principals, school principal John O’Donovan said: ‘Principals are not fooled by the Department’s use of the phrase “greater freedom to allocate and manage staff” to describe the axing of ex-quota guidance counsellor provision. This is a straightforward cut in teacher numbers …’” (more)
[ASTI, 29 February]
“A row has erupted between Northern Ireland’s two main universities over how to stop student riots engulfing the Holylands area of Belfast on St Patrick’s Day. The University of Ulster has accused Queen’s University of encouraging a ‘four-day party’ by giving its students two extra days off to mark March 17 this year …” (more)
[Lesley-Ann McKeown, Belfast Telegraph, 29 February]
“University heads are warning that the tightening of student visa rules risks undermining the drive to raise income from overseas students. Universities UK’s president Eric Thomas says university-sponsored overseas students should be removed from migration figures …” (more)
[Sean Coughlan, BBC News, 29 February]
