Global Student Stories – 17 December 2015
Sabine takes on this week’s Global Student Stories and shows us the extent of the threat of gun violence in the US, what happened in Kenya and how British and Egyptian students are working together.
Kenya: Fear at security drill
A campus security drill at Strathmore University in Kenya has injured more than 50 students, and caused the death of one employee.
The aim of the drill, which was organised by the university’s security team and the police, was to prepare students for possible terror attacks.
Gunshots were fired in order to make the drill seem realistic.
Students and staff believed the attack to be real, resulting in panic, and students jumping out of windows.
“It will take months before I heal from the mental torture I went through, thinking the university had been hit by terrorists,” one student said.
The university claims that they have informed everybody, while students report they have not been notified.
USA: Classes cancelled after gun violence threat
The University of Chicago cancelled all classes and events on Monday 30th November after an anonymous thread of gun violence was posted online.
Deciding not to take chances, all students were told to stay at home.
University president Robert Zimmer explained that the decision had been made “in consultation with federal and local law enforcement officials.”
The threat follows several cases of gun violence in the United States and an ongoing debate about gun control.
Nine people were killed at a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon in October.
According to Time magazine, there were 25 shootings on college campuses in 2015.
UK & Egypt: Student build drones for competition
16 teams from 12 UK and one Egypt universities participate in a competition run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
The students have to build drones which have to transport packages.
“The event has been set up to give students a real-world engineering experience before they leave university,” John Turton, chairman of the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Challenge explained.
Students participating in this year’s competition come from universities of Surrey, Sheffield Hallam, Bath, Loughborough, Glasgow, Nottingham, Swansea, Manchester, West of England, Sheffield, Southampton, Liverpool, Kafr El-Sheikh and Tanta.
The contest will also give students the opportunity to network with employers.
All student-build drones will be judged on the 6th and 7th July 2016.
USA: Liberty University allows guns in halls
The Liberty University, Virginia, has decided to end a ban that prohibits guns in residence halls.
The university believes this to be a measure to keep the campus safe.
Jerry Falwell Jr, the president of Liberty University, had already faced massive critique earlier this week, following his encouragement of students to buy guns.
Falwell Jr. had revealed that “I’ve always thought if more good people had concealed carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in.”
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton criticised the university president for his encouragement, saying that “this is the kind of deplorable – not only hateful response to a legitimate security issue, but it is giving aid and comfort to Isis and other radical jihadists.”
Students at Liberty University are now allowed to bring guns in all buildings on campus.
Comments