Wednesday 17 November 2010

UK's First Private University

My first question to my dear readers is that do you know which is the first private university in the United Kingdom? I am quite sure that very few people have this knowledge.

I would like to share with all of you what I have learned on this topic. UK's first private university is the BPP University College. It is the first in the last 30 years in the UK. The London based BPP got the prestigious status on 26 July 2010 (http://www.thelawyer.com/bpp-becomes-uks-first-private-university-college-in-three-decades/1005152.article).

Universities Minister David Willetts said, "It is healthy to have a vibrant private sector working alongside our more traditional universities." (Young Lawyer, 'BPP is first private uni' (2010) 9 SOLICITORS JOURNAL 7)

This new institution offers law degree which I guess most of us know. This is a good news for prospective law students in the future. But I personally feel that Northumbria University is the best place to study law and in fact any subjects due to its modern campus, its surroundings and the beautiful Newcastle city. Anyways the decision will vary from person to person.

The BBP has got 14 regional branches.

Peter Crisp, the chief executive of BPP's £10, 000 per year law school said, "I see no tension between the desire to change people's lives and making a profit."

Also please note that the BPP will not receive any money from the higher education funding councils (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10756830).


Source:
Young Lawyer, 'BPP is first private uni' (2010) 9 SOLICITORS JOURNAL 7
BBC <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10756830>
The Lawyer <http://www.thelawyer.com/bpp-becomes-uks-first-private-university-college-in-three-decades/1005152.article>

Tuesday 16 November 2010

Kings College Law Student Murder His Father!

Isn't it shocking to hear such a news? I was also shocked after learning about this.

Unfortunately this is the harsh truth. Mark Alexander, 22, killed his own 70 year old father Samuel only to escape his "controlling influence"! He then buried his father's body in the backyard. 

Alexander was a law student at the Kings College. He was a former student of Rugby School in Drayton Parslow, Buckinghamshire.

The reading Crown Court heard the case on 10th September 2010 and sentenced him at least 16 years of imprisonment.


Source:
Young Lawyer, 'Law student gets life for 'pushy parent' murder'' (2010) 9 SOLICITORS JOURNAL 7

Monday 15 November 2010

A Law Student Crowned Miss England!

People who thinks that law students are always into studies and are not social are actually wrong.

I don't know how many of you know Jessica Lineley. Well, she is our Miss England! Congratulations to Jessica. This blonde has scooped the £25, 000 prize money at the Miss England final this summer.

This 21 year old beauty is a law student. Are you surprised? I guess you should be. Yes she has been able to spare her time in modelling and finally winning a beauty pageant.

Jessica is law student at the Nottingham University School of Law. She is originally from Norwich.

She admits that she will not have any time for anymore modelling when she qualifies as a solicitor. And so she now wants to enjoy every minute of this year of her life and be the best representative of England.

Jessica even took a year off at the university and participated in the 60th Miss World battle held in Sanya.

My best wishes were and will be there with her. I believe lawyers need be social and this is one of the best way to be social.


Source:
Young Lawyer, 'Legally blonde: YL crowned Miss England' (2010) 9 SOLICITORS JOURNAL 6

Friday 12 November 2010

UK Lecturers Congratulate Students For The Wednesday's Violent Demonstration!

The United Kingdom's ruling Conservative Party's London Headquarter was stormed! Students and lecturers from across the England, Wales and Scotland travelled all the way to Whitehall, London. They were all involved in criminal damages and aggravated trespass. About 2,000 split from the main march to gather outside 30 Millbank, the Conservative headquarters in Westminster, where windows were smashed, fires lit and missiles thrown at police.

The police arrested about 50 protesters for the above offences, but was released on police bail till February 2011.

Although the protest was supposed to be a peacefulone, but it was overshadowed by violence on 10th November 2010 against the plan to lift the cap on university tuition fees to £9,000 for the home students.

Meanwhile, the police has began an inquiry behind the handling of this demonstration alongside the Scotland Yard. The police are examining the CCTV footages of the incident.

The Policing minister Nick Herbert said police had "struck the wrong balance" when preparing for the protests.

225 officers were originally deployd to police the march, although a further 225 were called in as the situation developed. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said, that the police should have been better prepared to tackle the demonstration, and termed the event "an embarrasment". 

The lecturers who were also involved in the march wrote: "We the undersigned wish to congratulate staff and students on the magnificent anti-cuts demonstration this afternoon." 

Lecturers at Goldsmiths College said: "The real violence in this situation relates not to a smashed window but to the destructive impact of the cuts."

But the Downing Street  said: "Praising violence over peaceful protest is frankly irresponsible."

On the other hand, Mr Cameron, the UK prime Minister has said he would not abandon his plan to reform tuition fees to allow some institutions to charge up to £9,000 a year.

National Union for Students president Aaron Porter said he believed members had "lost a lot of public sympathy" because of what happened.


Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11740282  

Thursday 11 November 2010

Late Yasser Arafat: A Warrior Or A Terrorist?

Have you ever heard of Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al- Qudwa al- Husseini? I don't think you have probably heard of this name! Anyways but I guess you have definitely heard of Yasser Arafat. Yes I am talking about Yasser Arafat. The long name in the first line is his full name although he is popularly known as Yasser Arafat.

Yasser Arafat was born on 24 August 1929 in Cairo to Palestinian parents. I would not go into his childhood history because I have something got to discuss. Yasser Arafat died on 11 November 2004.

In his lifetime he was quite popular not only nationally but internationally too. He was the Chairman of the Palestine Liberal Organization, President of the Palestinian National Authority, and leader of the Fatah political party which he founded in 1959. More interestingly, apart from being the Palestinian leader, Arafat was also a Laureate of the Nobel Prize.

Today he is no more with us in this beautiful world. But still he remains a controversial Middle Eastern political leader in the history.

Even today after his death he is considered by a section of the people as a 'legend' whereas there is another section of people who considers him as a 'terrorist'.

People who supported him saw him as a 'warrior', statesman, and peacemaker who was table the Palestinian issue in the world agenda and transform the Palestinian struggle into a legitimate fight for independence (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/11/2009111254835474671.html).

According to Kofi Annan, Former United Nations (UN) Secretary General Arafat was a man who "expressed and symbolised in his person the national aspirations of the Palestinian people" (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/11/2009111254835474671.html). Former French President, Jacques Chirac said Arafat was "a man of courage and conviction who for 40 years incarnated the Palestinians' fight for recognition of their national rights" (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/11/2009111254835474671.html). Even, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described late Arafat as "a great political leader of international significance." (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/11/2009111254835474671.html)

However, there is another group of people who have already labelled him a a 'terrorist'. His opponents view him as a manipulative terrorist and authoritarian leader (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/11/2009111254835474671.html). James Phillips, a Research Fellow in Middle Eastern affairs at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think tank, wrote in a 2004 commentary titled "Yasser Arafat's Disastrous Legacy," that "under Arafat's leadership the Palestinian Authority became corrupt, unaccountable, and dedicated to protecting Arafat's interests, rather than those of the Palestinian people." (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/11/2009111254835474671.html).

But despite all the supports for and criticisms against Arafat, it is agreed by everyone that his ultimate impact on the Palestinian struggle is significant. The present Palestinian Hamas government although hailed the late President as an icon of unity and struggle (http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/11/2009111254835474671.html), but are yet locked in a political stalemate with the Fatah, the political party founded by Yasser Arafat.

People believes that all this wouldn't have happened if Arafat was alive today. During Arafat's lifetime he was able to stop the emergence of any alternative Palestinian leadership.

Even according to Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, "Arafat's death meant losing a symbolic leader committed to the Palestinian cause whether we agreed with him or not.”

Arafat was the leader of the longest- running revolutionary movement. Although his opponents believe the world is better without him, but despite internationally he being a stateless person, he was considered all over the world as a head of state, a great political leader of international significance and the charismatic founder of Palestinian nationalism.

And lastly, I would remind you that today is late Yasser Arafat's 6th death anniversary. The world did react to his death in Paris in 2004 with tears and gunshots; praise and condemnation.


Source:
Al Jazeera English <http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/11/2009111254835474671.html>