Sustainable cell phonesTo help buck the trend of increasingly shorter life-spans, students at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering have designed a mobile phone that will last for at least seven years.
The design primarily serves as a statement against waste. The ‘Nokia Kiva concept phone’ can last that long because the processor can be replaced each year and the battery every two years. The telephone also has more memory and greater processing power, meaning it can still be used for new, emerging applications. The students however do not expect Nokia to quickly begin producing the Kiva, as Nokia still primarily profits from new phone sales.
Dutch citizenship
It is going to become more difficult for foreigners to become Dutch citizens if Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner has his way. Minister Donner wants to restrict Dutch nationality to people who are capable of earning a certain minimum salary and who also have at least a vocational school degree or two years of proven work experience. He also wants candidates for Dutch citizenship to have spent at least five years living as integrated members of Dutch society, and this five-year period will also apply to unmarried foreigners living together with Dutch citizens. For foreigners married to Dutch citizens, the current three-year waiting period will remain unchanged, as this period is set in accordance with existing European Union bylaws. To receive a Dutch passport, foreigners will also have to pass a Dutch-language test.
Learning centre
TU Delft is investigating whether InHolland’s composite lab should be the focal point of a planned learning centre, instead of a new building situated near the Industrial Design Engineering faculty. For years TU Delft’s Executive Board has wanted a learning centre to serve as a solution to the growing demand for classrooms and workspaces. This learning centre must offer teamwork and study rooms for students, laboratory spaces for teachers, project areas and classrooms, all equipped with the latest ICT and communication facilities. Although there has long been a preference for constructing new buildings, given the university-wide reappraisals currently underway, the Executive Board is taking a critical view toward determining ‘what the most efficient and effective approach is’. In late June the university’s facility management and real estate department will publish the findings of an investigative study.
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Traffic around campus
Due to a lack of funding, the municipality of Delft must make choices in its plans for improving the traffic network in Delft. In this plan, the accessibility of the TU campus is a priority. The mayoral council and aldermen have chosen this planning direction in order to support the building plans on and around the TU Delft campus. An environmental effect report (MER), published last year, stated that accessibility was a precondition for the construction of thousands of new student apartments. The largest share of the funding that the municipality has earmarked for the new plan will be devoted to the accessibility of TU North. The TU North infrastructure comprises the Mijnbouwstraat, the Poortlandplein, the Zuidplantsoen and the Schoemakerstraat.
Young criminals
The Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles Council (RSJ) has recommended that only punishing juvenile delinquents is largely ineffectual: instead, the educational element in the criminal justice system must be retained and improved. The council wants a separate juvenile criminal code to be established for young criminals. In 2007, 95,400 people aged between 12 and 24 were arrested, which, according to national crime statistics, means that 4 out of every 10 persons detained were younger than 24 years old.
Early selection
Students should ‘preselect’ early for a career in science. Talented young students often do not gain a sense of direction until staring their MSc programmes, warns Robbert Dijkgraaf, president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Students often do not yet know what professional direction they want to go in and thus wander aimlessly through the halls of higher education institutes, he implied during a recent speech. Dijkgraaf is also a member of a key trio of advisers who will instruct the Dutch Cabinet on how educational institutions can ‘profile’ in order to offer improved education and cope with the large influx of new students.
“Het leenstelsel dat u voorstelt is een heel asociaal leenstelsel”, schrijft de LSVb. “Het treft namelijk niet die afgestudeerden die heel veel verdienen, maar juist de grote groep afgestudeerden met een middeninkomen, zoals de leraren en de verpleegkundigen. Voor hen is het extra bedrag dat ze straks moeten lenen namelijk een veel groter deel van hun latere inkomen dan voor de relatief kleine groep veelverdienende chirurgen of advocaten.”
Wel eerlijk
Daar kijkt de PvdA heel anders tegenaan, laat voormalig OCW-minister Ronald Plasterk weten: “Wij vinden het eerlijk om van afgestudeerden die een hoog inkomen gaan verdienen een bijdrage te vragen voor hun studie. Wij behouden wel de aanvullende beurs om studenten met ouders met lagere inkomens te blijven ondersteunen, wat de VVD en D66 niet doen. Het CDA kiest voor een collegegeld van vele duizenden euro’s als je langer dan vier jaar studeert en schaft de OV-jaarkaart af. We kunnen ons voorstellen dat studenten harder tegen die maatregelen protesteren dan tegen die van ons, want wij hebben bewust alleen gekozen voor de meest eerlijke maatregel.’’
Sleutelrol PvdA
Toegegeven, ook D66 en VVD willen de basisbeurs afschaffen, zegt vice-voorzitter Dennis Wiersma van de LSVb. En inderdaad wil het CDA het collegegeld verhogen. “Maar de PvdA speelt een sleutelrol. Wij zijn tegen een sociaal leenstelsel en willen daar aandacht voor vragen. We zijn natuurlijk ook tegen die andere scenario’s en dat zullen we ook laten weten”, aldus Wiersma.
Volgens hem is het dweilen met de kraan open. “De partijen lopen in polonaise om op studenten te bezuinigen. We hebben de PvdA eruit gepikt om te laten merken dat we het niet accepteren.”
Sustainable cell phones
To help buck the trend of increasingly shorter life-spans, students at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering have designed a mobile phone that will last for at least seven years. The design primarily serves as a statement against waste. The ‘Nokia Kiva concept phone’ can last that long because the processor can be replaced each year and the battery every two years. The telephone also has more memory and greater processing power, meaning it can still be used for new, emerging applications. The students however do not expect Nokia to quickly begin producing the Kiva, as Nokia still primarily profits from new phone sales.
Dutch citizenship
It is going to become more difficult for foreigners to become Dutch citizens if Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner has his way. Minister Donner wants to restrict Dutch nationality to people who are capable of earning a certain minimum salary and who also have at least a vocational school degree or two years of proven work experience. He also wants candidates for Dutch citizenship to have spent at least five years living as integrated members of Dutch society, and this five-year period will also apply to unmarried foreigners living together with Dutch citizens. For foreigners married to Dutch citizens, the current three-year waiting period will remain unchanged, as this period is set in accordance with existing European Union bylaws. To receive a Dutch passport, foreigners will also have to pass a Dutch-language test.
Learning centre
TU Delft is investigating whether InHolland’s composite lab should be the focal point of a planned learning centre, instead of a new building situated near the Industrial Design Engineering faculty. For years TU Delft’s Executive Board has wanted a learning centre to serve as a solution to the growing demand for classrooms and workspaces. This learning centre must offer teamwork and study rooms for students, laboratory spaces for teachers, project areas and classrooms, all equipped with the latest ICT and communication facilities. Although there has long been a preference for constructing new buildings, given the university-wide reappraisals currently underway, the Executive Board is taking a critical view toward determining ‘what the most efficient and effective approach is’. In late June the university’s facility management and real estate department will publish the findings of an investigative study.
Traffic around campus
Due to a lack of funding, the municipality of Delft must make choices in its plans for improving the traffic network in Delft. In this plan, the accessibility of the TU campus is a priority. The mayoral council and aldermen have chosen this planning direction in order to support the building plans on and around the TU Delft campus. An environmental effect report (MER), published last year, stated that accessibility was a precondition for the construction of thousands of new student apartments. The largest share of the funding that the municipality has earmarked for the new plan will be devoted to the accessibility of TU North. The TU North infrastructure comprises the Mijnbouwstraat, the Poortlandplein, the Zuidplantsoen and the Schoemakerstraat.
Young criminals
The Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles Council (RSJ) has recommended that only punishing juvenile delinquents is largely ineffectual: instead, the educational element in the criminal justice system must be retained and improved. The council wants a separate juvenile criminal code to be established for young criminals. In 2007, 95,400 people aged between 12 and 24 were arrested, which, according to national crime statistics, means that 4 out of every 10 persons detained were younger than 24 years old.
Early selection
Students should ‘preselect’ early for a career in science. Talented young students often do not gain a sense of direction until staring their MSc programmes, warns Robbert Dijkgraaf, president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Students often do not yet know what professional direction they want to go in and thus wander aimlessly through the halls of higher education institutes, he implied during a recent speech. Dijkgraaf is also a member of a key trio of advisers who will instruct the Dutch Cabinet on how educational institutions can ‘profile’ in order to offer improved education and cope with the large influx of new students.
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