Student news round-up: Hertfordshire forced to re-run elections

(PA)

Hertfordshire forced to re-run elections

The student union at the University of Hertfordshire cancelled its election results just 30 minutes before they were due to be announced after it discovered "unusual voting activity", according to Trident Media.

An investigation later determined that "a small number of votes were cast by people using incorrect accounts", but that the invalid ballots could not be isolated.

Students who had voted the first time around were then asked to do so again, with a cash prize draw being offered as an incentive.

The president of the students' union, Gurpreet Singh, said: "The student union are doing everything they can to rectify the situation and a full investigation is taking place to ensure that student voting is fair for all those involved, and representative of the students voting."

Sheffield students bring the house down

A partying Sheffield student caused part of the ceiling to collapse during a student union club night, Forge Press reports.

Development officer Jack Wyse said: “At 1.15am a customer jumped off a raised dancing platform to grab on the roof which meant it was torn down. Security and TSC acted really quickly and effectively, cordoned off the area and remained there for the rest of the night. It will be repaired as soon as possible.”

Pictures show members of security apparently having to hold up the roof to prevent it falling down entirely.

Protests at Durham open days

Students at Durham have been protesting rising accommodation fees during university open days, according to Palatinate.

The protests, organised by the Durham Students for University Reform group, aim to pressure the university by making incoming students and their parents aware of the issue.

William Pinkney-Baird, one of the protesters, said: "We believe that if the University won’t listen to its current students, it will listen to applicants considering coming to Durham. Potential students have the right to be informed of the issues surrounding accommodation fees in Durham."

The university said: "As a university we have been transparent about our costs and remain competitive in terms of our accommodation pricing."

Warwick vice-chancellor calls students "yobs"

The vice-chancellor of the University of Warwick has been recorded apparently calling student protesters "yobs", The Boar reports.

Nigel Thrift appeared to make the comment at the end of a Warwick Protest Summit event, where he was part of a panel listening to the concerns of the Warwick For Free Education movement.

As the audience began to leave, some started chanting "348K, Nigel Thrift go away". On a video recording uploaded to YouTube, a man can then be heard saying: "This shows you what we’re dealing with. These are just yobs."

A university spokesperson said: "The vice-chancellor’s brief verbal response to these acts at the end of the summit was a very human one, not least given the indications from at least one student member that their previous actions would continue unaffected by the discussions at the Summit."

Gambling addict stole £300k from Cambridge college

A former employee of Pembroke College, Cambridge has been jailed for 30 months after being found guilty of stealing nearly £300,000, according to The Cambridge Tab.

During 18 months as a finance officer for the college, Jacqueline Balaam, 41, copied 77 invoices and targeted the college's suppliers. She spent the money on Jackpotjoy, a bingo website. She was discovered after an internal audit.

The judge said: "You seemed to cover your tracks with some skill in the way you manipulated your records... You are an intelligent woman and you were well able to seek help during that period and you did not do so."

Pembroke College said: "We would like to express our regret and sadness about this incident, which had miserable human consequences."