Rector

Prosecutors in Athens will move against student protesters who have occupied universities in recent days as well as university administrators who have failed to take action against illegal activity on their campuses.

The opposition by a minority of students to the government's draft law that will institutionalize non-state universities is continuing with the occupation of faculties, to the concern and chagrin of rectors and other students who now run the risk of missing exams.

The new system of electing university rectors, which is now being tested in practice, seems to justify some of the reservations voiced by its critics.

If it turns out that its complexity is causing problems to the management of universities it should be reconsidered, in consultation with the university community.

Ayşegül Timur, a Turkish professor, has created history by becoming the first Turkish rector of the U.S.-based university Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU).

FGCU voted to appoint Timur as their rector. Therefore, Timur became both the first Turk to become the rector of a university in the U.S. and the first female rector of the university.

Bogazici University students hold placards and shout slogans against the government during a demonstration against their new rector, Melih Bulu, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU

45 law freshmen who cheated in the winter session exams were expelled from faculty, Rector of the University of Bucharest, Marian Preda, announced today. "We also have the confessions of students who, in talks with faculty representatives, admitted to cheating in exams.

It's hard to disagree with what Citizens' Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis said in Parliament Tuesday regarding government plans to police universities. "No one wants to see the police on university grounds. However, a rector's responsibility to enforce the law alone was a plan that has not been backed up by facts. Universities have failed to deal with lawlessness.

Melih Bulu, the newly appointed rector at Istanbul's Boğaziçi University, said he will not step down following protests by the university students and academics.

Speaking to reporters, Bulu said he has no intentions to resign from his post and that he assumes that the crisis that started with his appointment will end in six months and that it will be so.

The eight young men accused of participating in the attack on the rector of the Athens University of Economics and Business, Dimitris Bourantonis, on October 29, which caused a public outcry, have been released after testifying before an investigative magistrate last week.

Thousands of students, academics, activists and opposition party members organised a second protest on Wednesday in Kadikoy Pier Square in Istanbul over the appointment of a new rector at Bogazici University.