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Environmental scientists must be ¡°allowed to cry¡± about loss of species and ecosystems and then should be given the emotional support they need to respond effectively, according to a by academics published in Science. The researchers from the universities of Exeter and Bristol say that the huge rate of environmental destruction in the world inevitably ¡°triggers strong grief responses in people with an emotional attachment to nature¡±, yet there was a ¡°pervasive illusion that scientists must be dispassionate observers¡±. Tim Gordon, lead author of the letter and a marine biologist studying for a PhD at Exeter, said it was ¡°impossible to remain emotionally detached¡± as a scientist ¡°documenting the destruction of the world¡¯s most beautiful and valuable ecosystems¡±.

The University of Oxford¡¯s default retirement age policy came under the spotlight after 97-year-old John Goodenough won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Professor Goodenough, who helped to invent the lithium-ion batteries that powered the portable electronics revolution, has been working at the University of Texas at Austin since having ¡°fled¡± Oxford ahead of compulsory retirement. ¡°It¡¯s foolish to make people retire. I¡¯ve had 33 good years since I?was forced to retire in England,¡± he told . Oxford and Cambridge are the only UK universities that still retain policies setting a default retirement age, and the name Goodenough stands as the perfect rejoinder. The professor did, however, conform to age-related stereotypes by being asleep when news of his Nobel win came through. One of his collaborators, Helena Braga of the University of Porto, recalled telling him: ¡°Wake up, wake up! You won the Nobel prize.¡±

The whistleblower who was dismissed from the board of UK higher education¡¯s main pension scheme has criticised the lack of transparency about the investigation into her conduct. Sir David Eastwood, chair of the Universities Superannuation Scheme, said that Jane Hutton had ¡°breached a number of her director¡¯s duties owed under company law and contract¡±. In a letter to university leaders, Sir David, vice-chancellor of the University of Birmingham, insists that the probe into Professor Hutton is ¡°completely separate¡± from the investigation of her allegation that she was obstructed in a bid to investigate the fund¡¯s deficit ¨C a major bone of contention in an ongoing industrial dispute. However, the USS has refused to publish the report into Professor Hutton¡¯s conduct, and Professor Hutton rejected the option of reading it in a secure room under observation by a solicitor, without being able to take notes, and then being forbidden to discuss it. ¡°We¡¯re talking about a pension pot worth ?50-?70?billion, with a lot of very interested members,¡± she said. ¡°What is the point of a report that no one is supposed to use or refer?to?¡±

¡°Student activists at the University of Southern California have called for a long-standing exhibit honouring alumnus John Wayne to be removed, after an interview resurfaced in which the actor said he believes in white supremacy,¡± reported. Western actor Mr Wayne, who studied law at USC in the 1920s and died in 1979, said in the 1971 interview with Playboy: ¡°I?believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.¡± He also denied that the US ¡°did wrong¡± in taking land away from Native Americans, which for critics has confirmed the unflattering appraisal of Mr Wayne¡¯s views on race in Public Enemy¡¯s song Fight the Power. Variety that USC¡¯s School of Cinematic Arts has responded by ¡°hosting a discussion between the students and the school in hopes of finding solutions to concerns of racism¡±, adding that there has been ¡°no word yet on whether USC would consider removing the entire tribute to Wayne¡±.

¡°A British academic has claimed that she was secretly paid to have children as part of a eugenicist scheme while working at the London School of Economics in the early 1960s,¡± the reported. Hilary Rose told the BBC Four series Eugenics: Science¡¯s Greatest Scandal that ?50, ¡°worth roughly ?1,100 today, would ¡®just appear in your payslip¡¯ [after having a child] as part of an incentive for the ¡®brightest¡¯ people in society to reproduce¡±. ¡°The scheme was originally proposed in the 1920s by LSE director William Beveridge, who would later become the creator of the welfare state, who believed the idea was part of ¡®positive eugenics¡¯,¡± the article says. If eugenics is on the comeback trail, the government¡¯s Longitudinal Education Outcomes data on graduate earnings by course and university could come in handy for identifying the right breeding grounds for the ¡°brightest¡±.