NO TOPIC the Third

You —

Well This is the new new No Topic Topic. 😛

For those who do not know, this place is to talk about nothing. Nada. Zilch. And everything else which according to you does not deserve it's own topic. (Or you could choose to make a blog post)

[url=/node/1781]The other one[/url] was getting a bit long... So we have a new start.

Forum

Omrow — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 - 15:39

Our British Universities are losing their positions in world's top educational institutions:

British universities lose ground to their richer foreign rivals

Nicola Woolcock - The Times - October 9, 2008

British universities have slipped down the world rankings as they compete ever harder with eminent institutions overseas.

Cambridge and Oxford have lost ground to Harvard and Yale, while fewer British universities are in the top 200 list, published today, than last year.

At a time when it is essential for British institutions to attract lucrative international students who pay higher fees, they are being outdone increasingly by American universities that receive huge endowments.

Harvard tops the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings for the fifth consecutive year. Its endowment fund is greater than the total annual public funding for all universities in England.

Yale holds the second spot after being joint second with Cambridge and Oxford last year. The two British institutions came third and fourth respectively this year.

Four British universities are in the top 10, the same as last year. Imperial College London fell from fifth to sixth place while University College London rose from ninth to seventh.

In all, 17 universities in Britain made it into the top 100 list, down from 19 last year. More than a third of the top 100 are based in the US.

Vice-chancellors and commentators voiced concern that, without an increase in investment, Britain’s standing as a first-class destination for higher education could be under threat.

Wendy Piatt, director-general of the Russell Group of leading universities, said that its members were performing well against international rivals, adding: “The table reflects the growing strength of our major competitors – particularly the US institutions – which benefit from much higher levels of investment than UK universities.

“Without increased investment there is a real danger that the UK’s success will not be sustained.

“As a result of huge investment in higher education and science in recent years, China already looks set to overtake the UK very soon in terms of total research publications, and its universities have been steadily climbing up international league tables.”

The Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings had 29 British universities in the top 200, one fewer than last year. Of these, 22 had slipped down the rankings. The rise of Asian institutions is reflected in the inclusion of nine of them within the top 50, including three based in Hong Kong. Two new entrants this year are Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Seoul National University.

A spokesman for Quacquarelli Symonds, which conducted the research, said that its findings also reflected the higher profile of technology-based universities.

Ann Mroz, the editor of Times Higher Education, said: “UK universities are very clearly among the world’s best and have maintained good positions in the rankings this year.

“But the fact that Cambridge and Oxford have slipped down the top ten and that US universities have cemented their dominance among the world’s elite, at the UK’s expense, raises key questions about the future funding of the sector.

“As a percentage of gross domestic product, the US spends more than twice as much on its universities as the UK does.”

The rankings – which are now in their fifth year – are based on surveys of academics and graduate employers about which they consider the best universities in their fields, the ratio of students to academics, the proportion of overseas students and staff at each university, and the number of times research by each university’s academics is quoted in other journals.

University top 200 in full

Britain has 17 universities in the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings top 100, down from 19 last year.

Harvard tops the list for the fifth consecutive year. Second place goes to Yale, which was joint second with Cambridge and Oxford last year. The two British institutions came third and fourth respectively this year.

In total the UK has 29 universities in the top 200, one fewer than last year. Of these, 22 had slipped down the rankings. The highest ranking UK university is Cambridge at Number 3, and the lowest ranking is the University of Reading, at 194 just six from bottom place, which goes to the University of Athens.

Four British universities are in the top 10, the same as last year. Imperial College London fell from fifth to sixth place while University College London rose from ninth to seventh.

More than a third of the top 100 are based in the US. The rise of Asian institutions is reflected in the inclusion of nine of them within the top 50, including three based in Hong Kong.

Two new entrants this year are Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Seoul National University.

The list in full:

1 HARVARD University United States

2 YALE University United States

3 University of CAMBRIDGE United Kingdom

4 University of OXFORD United Kingdom

5 CALIFORNIA Institute of Technology (Calt... United States

6 IMPERIAL College London United Kingdom

7 UCL (University College London) United Kingdom

8 University of CHICAGO United States

9 MASSACHUSETTS Institute of Technology (M... United States

10 COLUMBIA University United States

11 University of PENNSYLVANIA United States

12 PRINCETON University United States

13= DUKE University United States

13= JOHNS HOPKINS University United States

15 CORNELL University United States

16 AUSTRALIAN National University Australia

17 STANFORD University United States

18 University of MICHIGAN United States

19 University of TOKYO Japan

20 MCGILL University Canada

21 CARNEGIE MELLON University United States

22 KING'S College London United Kingdom

23 University of EDINBURGH United Kingdom

24 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of T... Switzerland

25 KYOTO University Japan

26 University of HONG KONG Hong Kong

27 BROWN University United States

28 École Normale Supérieure, PARIS France

29 University of MANCHESTER United Kingdom

30= National University of SINGAPORE(NUS) Singapore

30= University of CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles (U... United States

32 University of BRISTOL United Kingdom

33 NORTHWESTERN University United States

34= ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE France

34= University of BRITISH COLUMBIA Canada

36 University of California, BERKELEY United States

37 The University of SYDNEY Australia

38 The University of MELBOURNE Australia

39 HONG KONG University of Science & Techno... Hong Kong

40 NEW YORK University (NYU) United States

41 University of TORONTO Canada

42 The CHINESE University of Hong Kong Hong Kong

43 University of QUEENSLAND Australia

44 OSAKA University Japan

45 University of NEW SOUTH WALES Australia

46 BOSTON University United States

47 MONASH University Australia

48 University of COPENHAGEN Denmark

49 TRINITY College Dublin Ireland

50= Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de LAUSANNE... Switzerland

50= PEKING University China

To see the rest of the list, click here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article4910798.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/good_universi…

Naz — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 - 16:52

^^^ no suprises there. Theyve started enrolling too many Pakistanis.

Seraphim — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 - 18:40

[quote=wednesday][quote=Naz]^^^ no suprises there. Theyve started enrolling too many Pakistanis.[/quote]

do you means indians?[/quote]

Why would she mean Indians?

Seraphim — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 - 10:21

[quote=wednesday][quote=Seraphim][quote=wednesday][quote=Naz]^^^ no suprises there. Theyve started enrolling too many Pakistanis.[/quote]

do you means indians?[/quote]

Why would she mean Indians? [/quote]

Because it's true ...[/quote]

According to you.

Naz — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 - 13:12

[quote=wednesday][quote=Naz]^^^ no suprises there. Theyve started enrolling too many Pakistanis.[/quote]

do you means indians?[/quote]

Nope i mean Pakistanis. The infestations this year at my uni is overwhelming.

Courage — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 - 15:03

[quote=Naz]^^^ no suprises there. Theyve started enrolling too many Pakistanis.[/quote]

OK, so let's kick some out. Starting with you, Naz.

Naz — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 - 22:13

[quote=wednesday][quote=Naz][quote=wednesday][quote=Naz]^^^ no suprises there. Theyve started enrolling too many Pakistanis.[/quote]

do you means indians?[/quote]

Nope i mean Pakistanis. The infestations this year at my uni is overwhelming.[/quote]

it's the opposite here in bradie ...

u know what? there are more of europeans now compared to the number of asians! (in good worth studying courses!)[/quote]

I know i was suprised when i heard. My sis was gonna go Bradistan uni but there were too many white ppl (shes a Pakistani lover lol) according to her plus they dont do the LPC.

[quote=Courage][quote=Naz]^^^ no suprises there. Theyve started enrolling too many Pakistanis.[/quote]

OK, so let's kick some out. Starting with you, Naz.[/quote]
🙁

[quote=Sirus]I was expecting to see manchester met somewhere in that list!![/quote]

Are you being serious?

Funzo — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 - 22:47

[quote=Ya'qub]Woo! My sister lectures at the 6th best university in the world. Well done![/quote]
Hmm remind me to remeber that when i do my ucas application lol.

Seraphim — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 - 20:38

[quote=wednesday]What does the following 'message' mean?

"warning: call_user_func_array() [function.call-user-func-array]: First argument is expected to be a valid callback, 'tribune_json_newposts' was given in /var/www/vhosts/therevival.co.uk/httpdocs/includes/menu.inc on line 348."[/quote]

a database error

xSmurfy786x — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 - 00:07

Awwwww Jzk for all ur nice commentss =]
jeee ive been wearing glasses for the past 3 weeks and still wearing them!
no i think wat kikked for me was that i stopped wearing CL's all the way thru summer holidays, i wore glasses EVERYWHERE! unless to weddings where max i wore for 3-4 hours... and thenn all of a sudden, when collij started i started wearing em full time like 9-10 hours a day.. so my eyes went abit weird but me like an idiot carried on wearing them... and then eneded up getting conjunctivities.. ryt annoying lol but made me realise how important my eyes are!
my dad was considering me having laser but these uncles in my area sed that laser will wear off after 25 years so ill have 2 have my eyesight remodified again? or sumthing like that...
jzk for that link too! useful coz i wanna be an optician lol

Midnight — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 - 17:22

[quote=wednesday]*Midnight: Have you read twilight by Stephenie Meyer? ... what's it like?? and what abt braeking dawn? (havn't started reading it yet but looks pretty)[/quote]

Lol, do you even need to ask? Have you read any of them? Im actually obsessed with the series at the moment.
Tbh i dont normally read such books, and thought it would be more horror. But it was the other way around lol. But they're really good. And with just right level of mushy stuff.
Ive read them all from Twilight till Breaking Dawn.
Breaking Dawn was different. I found she was overly-descriptive at parts so i was just skim reading over bits. But having said that its still really good.

Midnight — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 - 17:35

[quote=wednesday][quote=Midnight][quote=wednesday]*Midnight: Have you read twilight by Stephenie Meyer? ... what's it like?? and what abt braeking dawn? (havn't started reading it yet but looks pretty)[/quote]

Lol, do you even need to ask? Have you read any of them? Im actually obsessed with the series at the moment.
Tbh i dont normally read such books, and thought it would be more horror. But it was the other way around lol. But they're really good. And with just right level of mushy stuff.
Ive read them all from Twilight till Breaking Dawn.
Breaking Dawn was different. I found she was overly-descriptive at parts so i was just skim reading over bits. But having said that its still really good.
[/quote]

WIKID! goodie goodie ... i looked at the cover of twilight and was like, hmmm i've seen that apple somewhere, o Midnight!

I've just bought braeking dawn... gna get the other three and read them before i can indulge in BD since they all are linked... (didn't realise the series started from twilight until i got home lol)

I do alot of 'skipping' with any book... anything descriptive bores the hell out of me! (i hate waffling stuff cos you're always like ... oriiite .... move on) : and i should stop waffling meself![/quote]

LOL, I'll be honest. I was *this* close to buying breaking dawn first too. But i always have a quick read at the bookshop before buying a book. So i realised it was part of a series hahaha.

Yes read it from the beginning.
(Book 1) Twilight, (Book 2) New Moon, (Book 3) Eclipse, (Book 4) Breaking Dawn
The first two are my favs.

Lemme know what you think.

PS: 50 POINTS if you can guess who else reads Twilight on here. It wouldnt be too obvious for anyone unless you had read the books hehe. Naturally being soo obsessed with the series I spotted it straight away.

Young Anonymou… — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 - 21:19

i'm thinkin of readin them, coz like every1 in my class at school is totally obsessed with them, but i don't want to read it if its like 'detailed' mushy stuff. like, if you've read noughts and crosses, that level of rudeness. is it?

Midnight — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 - 17:34

[quote=wednesday]i got the first three books ... yaaay!... i'll send you (Midnight) PM when i finish the series... can't wait to tuck in![/quote]

YEH! 😃 Wednesday, hav a read of the 1st one and leme knw wat you think. I dont wana say anythin incase it spoils it for u.

[quote="Young Anonymous Muslimah"]i'm thinkin of readin them, coz like every1 in my class at school is totally obsessed with them, but i don't want to read it if its like 'detailed' mushy stuff. like, if you've read noughts and crosses, that level of rudeness. is it?[/quote]

Young & Anon... how old are u? Its a romance novel so thers gona be mushyness :? . But nothin u might consider... RUDE. Dont feel pressured in2 reading anythin u dont want to. But if your worried then mayb u shudnt read them at all. Dont wana be responsible for breaking your fragile innocent mind lol 😂

Sirus — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 - 18:44

Wow

Flippin eck!!

I admit, i would most likely have watched on....not coz i wouldnt want to stop it, but these days you dont know...people end up getting killed doing the right things. Luckily, as they were muslims, and your a sister, its unlikely they would cause you any harm...they even stopped and apologised!

You did the right thing defo, good on ya

Seraphim — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 - 19:55

Not alot of people will go out of their way to help others. And even few will help when some1s getting the hell-kicked out of them. Although it was extremely dangerious for you to intercede on his part.

Im not entirely sure what must have been going through your head at the time. But if your first reaction was to step in and stop it im impressed Sid.

Ya'qub — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 - 21:04

Not a lot of people step in if there's a problem like that, even though I think they should.

Well done sister! (sorry, 'well done wednesday').

Funzo — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 - 22:24

[quote=wednesday]Man!! Today was totally wierd!

2 practicals that i enjoyed, and i kind of new what i were doin (cos they were dead easy stuff) , followed by finding sofa seats in the atrium (which is rare, very rare!), Attended a debate on "there is NO GOD" hosted by Hamza Andrease Tzortzis + Adam Deen against Brian Layfield + Robert Tee (Humanists), volunteering for pathetic sponsors, followed with the 'incident' (where i am glad that i weren't knocked down!) and then a talk by specsavers favouring in my application ... I'm still shaken up, Life has never been THIS exciting!!

Everything happens for a good reason? ... and i'm two minds, should I or shouldn't I interpret it? like Prof Douthwaite (bless him, he's the best clinical supervisor one could get! i miss him alot since he only teaches the first yrs)anyways, like he says... you have your good days and your bad days... was this a 'good day'?

I promissed not to dwell on it any longer, because i'm gna have a headache! lol

why have i made the forum my diary? I seem to be putting everything up on the 'nerd box'! haha[/quote]
Hes from bedfordshire ive seen him

Funzo — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 - 22:29

[quote=wednesday][quote=Funzo][quote=wednesday]Man!! Today was totally wierd!

2 practicals that i enjoyed, and i kind of new what i were doin (cos they were dead easy stuff) , followed by finding sofa seats in the atrium (which is rare, very rare!), Attended a debate on "there is NO GOD" hosted by Hamza Andrease Tzortzis + Adam Deen against Brian Layfield + Robert Tee (Humanists), volunteering for pathetic sponsors, followed with the 'incident' (where i am glad that i weren't knocked down!) and then a talk by specsavers favouring in my application ... I'm still shaken up, Life has never been THIS exciting!!

Everything happens for a good reason? ... and i'm two minds, should I or shouldn't I interpret it? like Prof Douthwaite (bless him, he's the best clinical supervisor one could get! i miss him alot since he only teaches the first yrs)anyways, like he says... you have your good days and your bad days... was this a 'good day'?

I promissed not to dwell on it any longer, because i'm gna have a headache! lol

why have i made the forum my diary? I seem to be putting everything up on the 'nerd box'! haha[/quote]
Hes from bedfordshire ive seen him [/quote]

no he aint! he's a Greek convert (and quite proud abt it!)[/quote]
you dumb dumb hes from luton which is in bedfordshire and yes i know hes a greek convert! i know what im talking about!

Ya'qub — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 - 22:29

Maybe, just maybe, he is a Greek convert from Bedfordshire.

Or there are two Hamza Andrease Tzortzises, but that seems unlikely to me.