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Friday 22.02.13 Volume 62
Poisonous mercury in St Pats
Photograph of St Patrick’s Hall from www.wikipedia.co.uk Catherine Russ
There was a sudden shock for the University of Reading’s St Patrick’s residents on Monday 11 February. A small amount of toxic Mercury was discovered by a member of staff in Pearson’s Court accommodation block’s communal bins, just metres from student’s rooms.
Fire crews and police rushed to the scene Fire crews and police rushed to the scene at 2.20pm, where they cordoned off the affected area and began investigation. The area remained prohibited to students for over an hour and a half while police and environmental health
experts analysed the Mercury and the surrounding scene.
Mercury can cause poisoning, which is extremely toxic Mercury and many of its compounds can directly cause Mercury poisoning and are extremely toxic. This can result in severe damage to the brain, kidneys, and lungs, and in some cases can cause sensory impairment. Small scale spills involving Mercury can be from thermometers or fluorescent light bulbs, but it is still unclear where the spill originated. It has been disclosed that 300ml of Mercury was
found, but there is no evidence to suggest that the mercury originated from within the University. Specific cleaning procedures must be used to avoid exposure and contain spills of Mercury, so a specialist cleaning unit quickly arrived from Southampton. This was in order to contain the toxic substance, and also prevent any lethal exposure to the surrounding students at the halls.
was going on, but then we all got emails explaining the situation.”
It offered no immediate risk to students
Ellie Mosely, who is a current resident at St Patrick’s Hall, told us about the experience: “When I got back from lectures I saw the police and the cordoned off area, so I was confused as to what
A spokesman for the university, Alex Brannen, confirmed the spillage was dealt with very well and said: “It offered no immediate risk to students and caused little inconvenience to students accessing their rooms in the student accommodation block.” The University of Reading has now launched a full investigation into the St Patrick’s Mercury chemical spillage, with the hopes of finding the soucre. This currently being carried out with the accommodation partner UPP.
cants with a rise of 12.3% whilst Engineering subjects gained 8.4%. Social Sciences, Arts and Languages all suffered decreases in this year’s submissions. Having recently opened four new halls in the university and with £400million spent on developing equipment and facilities, Reading appears to have increased in its appeal to prospective students. With seven applicants to every one available space next year at Reading, the competition for hopeful candidates to be accepted is extremely high. The University of Reading has been continually rated favourably in student satisfaction surveys. As reported by Spark* in
October, Reading University Students’ Union was ranked 6th in the country with a score of 82.1% in the National Student Survey. Furthermore, the University of Reading achieved the high score of 88% for its overall student satisfaction in regards to courses. Results such as these increase the University’s positive reputation. Although applicant figures are rising, there have been warnings that there is still a long way to go before Universities and the government can recuperate from the harm caused by tuition fee increases. However, with rising application numbers, along with the agreeable student satisfaction results Reading looks set on its way to recovery.
Specific cleaning procedures were used
Reading recieves a rise in applicants again Tessa Deakin
The number of undergraduates applying to the University of Reading has risen for a second successive year. Applicant figures for 2013/14 have increased by almost 5%, in comparison to the amount of submissions for the previous academic year. These figures come just two years after the Office for Fair Access gave permission for the University to increase tuition fees from £3,375 to £9,000. The government expected this increase to damage university applications nationally; however Reading has now defied these odds for two years in a row. 2012/13 saw application figures rise
10.4% on the preceding year whilst national applicant numbers fell. James Fletcher, RUSU President said: “It is very encouraging that the University of Reading’s application rate is higher than the sector average this year.” He adds: “Current students should be pleased with these results as it shows Reading is a high quality institution.” Nationally, university applications have risen for the first time since higher tuition fees became available to Universities. There has also been a national growth in forthcoming students hoping to study STEM subjects. Computer Science achieved the greatest increase in appli-
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