Here’s what you may have missed! Felix wraps up a stellar 2014

It has been a busy year for Imperial College, with the Union and the University alike giving Felix lots of material and good reason to go to print (most of the time).

In January, College announced it would be conducting its Residential Experience Review, something we would see the results of this term with the reductions to the amenities fund.

The work of Imperial College Union campaigning against charges for International students to use the NHS also lead to an inquiry by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. The inquiry set out to look at the changes a new immigration bill would have on students who come from abroad to study, which would include charging people a flat fee to access healthcare.

We said goodbye to the Science Museum Library, with the collection on the third floor being moved outside of campus and the space renovated for students to study in. The Union also announced the refurbishment of the Union Concert Hall with a £220,000 grant, although this was not to be completed in time for the next academic year.

YoYo hit campus with its bright pink payment app, and bars all over campus braced themselves for the numerous technical difficulties that followed before accepting this new way of payment and for some, a new way of life. One student told us “It’s like we aren’t even really paying, so I spend quite a lot of money at sport nights now.”

It came to light that the Chemistry building may be moving to the Imperial West campus, something that is still being planned and prepared for now although the moving date has yet to be set.

Imperial joined together with the best vacuum cleaner company around, Dyson, to launch a new robotics laboratory in the Department of Computing. The lab does not however carry out research to develop new, innovative cleaning products but instead looks at expanding artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, students in the library were caught mining bitcoins late at night, and were promptly banned by the ICT department.

In March we saw the Medics win the Rugby, but College to win overall. Imperial hit 13th in the Times Higher Education rankings, still 11 places shy of where it would reach in the QS Rankings in a few months time.

It was announced that Evelyn Gardens would close in 2015, and it was not clear if the halls would open again. It was also announced that the library would finally get air conditioning, only for this glimmer of hope to be snatched away.

It was revealed that although planning permission was granted to build the cooling system, funding was never awarded to pay for the complete electrical and mechanical overhaul needed for the library to be able to sustain the system.

However, it wasn’t all bleak news: Imperial received a £40 million donation from alumnus Michael Uren to build a new Bioengineering building at the Imperial West Campus. Uren graduated before Felix even existed, in 1943.

Although Bioengineering may have been having a great time, Medicine saw the doors shut on its four-year postgraduate course, introducing a new five-year course instead for graduate entrants.

Medics were also left displeased when they heard their sports grounds, Teddington, were to be closed and all sport was moving to Heston. According to those involved, the following summer months were plagued with miscommunication issues about the closure.

Felix returned for the new academic year as Alice Gast succeeded Rector Keith O’Nions to become the first President of Imperial College. She is the 16th head of the University. Cheerfully, the home office dropped allegations of animal cruelty at Imperial. Out of 180 allegations from the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, only five were upheld.

Teddington held its final day of sport in October, a few weeks after the new intake started back at Imperial, and although a Dri night at the Union was scheduled in the first fortnight of term, some were left unimpressed by the turnout.

There was controversy as Felix revealed that the College had cut amenities funds for halls by more than half. The amenities fund was cut from roughly £373,000 to just over £150,000.

The first of two controversies involving the rugby teams hit on Halloween (we’ll never forgive you guys for knocking the pumpkin off the front page). The Rugby First XV were caught stripping on tube platforms, while medics were caught running around Heston naked. The following week, the Medics rugby club was suspended for smashing a coach window whilst on tour.

A petition was launched against potential redevelopment work at Silwood Park, although it remains unclear what exactly the redevelopment would entail. It also remains unclear whether the project will go ahead.

At the end of November, Blackboard crashed during an online exam. As many as 450 students were left “confused and frustrated”, as the test at the Business School had to be halted and disaster swept through the department.

Meanwhile, the Higher Education Funding policy was garnering online support, although the same could not be said for the Bursary change, which was “condemned” by Union Council.

The Union attempted to hold a General Meeting about Higher Education Funding at the start of December, but the meeting failed to meet quorum. Only 45 people attended the meeting, some way short of the 200 required.

The sad news of Professor Grimm’s death made it onto the front page last week, and it seems the story is far from over. We may be able to provide more information in 2015, so watch this space.

Many of our main stories from this year have yet to reach a conclusion, so we will be following up on these in the New Year. Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Felix on the first Friday of the Spring term.