News in brief – February 25

Warwick will hold a summit on protests in the Arts Centre Cinema on March 12. Speakers will include the West Midlands police chief, the registrar, a representative from Warwick security as well as vice-chancellor Sir Nigel Thrift and president of the Students’ Union Cat Turhan. Tickets were on offer to both staff and students, however, the event is already fully booked. Staff at the University are currently analysing the 600 replies received in response to the protest survey. A report will be compiled and released a week before the summit.

Three quarters of students struggle to believe that their friends have mental health problems, according to a study by the Priory Group. The West Midlands was the second worst region for understanding mental health in the UK; 78 percent of students in the region struggled to believe friends if they claimed to have a mental illness.

Researchers from Warwick Medical School have suggested that there is a link between the use of cannabis and the onset of symptoms related to bipolar disorder. The study showed that the use of cannabis worsened symptoms of those previously diagnosed as bipolar.

Students studying at St Andrews will be able to live in alcohol-free flats from September 2015. The accommodation is being introduced for students who have religious or medical reasons which prevent them from drinking alcohol. St Andrews will be the first Scottish university to offer alcohol-free accommodation.

Three suspects have been charged following alleged violence at Free Education protests in Senate House last term. The three men will appear in Coventry Magistrates’ Court on March 5. Daniel Dawson, 24, has been charged with obstructing a constable and using threatening words or behaviour. Alistair Robinson, 25, is charged with assault by beating and using threatening words or behaviour. The final man, Luke Dukinfield, 19, has received charges of using threatening, insulting words or abusive beahviour to provoke unlawful violence.