The Student (Edinburgh)

As hundreds of people gathered outside the Russian consulate building on Melville Terrace to mark two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, onlookers watched as two unidentified individuals emerged from a black van and tore down all tributes. The street outside the embassy had been decorated with Ukrainian flags, flowers and signs condemning the Russian invasion before the van appeared.

The Meadows is one of three Edinburgh parks set to receive permanent public toilets. It is hoped that the toilets will be ready in time for the summer months of 2024. Inverleith Park and Allotments, and Leith Links will also see permanent toilets installed. The prospect of additional facilities in The Meadows has been met by enthusiasm by students. One student said: “I will definitely use them.” They will be especially helpful in the summer when everyone is hanging out on the meadows”.

The lift in 50 George Square has been fixed, after weeks of being unbroken causing issues of accessibility for some students. 50 George Square is the main building for the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, and in 2022, the school had almost 3,000 students enrolled. Despite this, the building only has one lift for all students and staff that work in the building.

This is Rigged staged a sit-in at Holyrood House, the Scotland residence of King Charles, on Monday 19 February 2024. They demanded that the price of baby formula in supermarkets be reduced to that of March 2021, and advocated for the establishment of community food hubs. The activist group stated this was in response to exacerbated food insecurity and inequality.

Diana’s childhood home, Althorp estate, is set to be inherited by a former Edinburgh student, her nephew, Louis Spencer. The property, which has been in the Spencer family since 1508 is currently run by her brother, Earl Spencer and his wife. Due to the aristocracy system primogeniture, which favours the eldest son, Louis, rather than his three older sisters, will inherit the land when his father passes on.

In a letter to the Guardian, Dr Siân Lawrence addressed the continued inequality in the UK’s higher education, which she argues was “never left behind.” Only 20 per cent of undergraduate students in Russell Group universities come from a working-class background. For postgraduate degrees, the percentage is even lower.

The Student’s Tommy Manning and Anni Hodgkinson talk to one of Edinburgh’s most famous faces on life four years after his Bake-off success. Last week, we were given the opportunity to speak to University of Edinburgh graduate, Peter Sawkins. Whilst being an Accounting and Finance degree holder, Peter is more commonly known by students for his appearance in the eleventh series of The Great British Bake-Off.

An honours history course at the University of Edinburgh students were told to establish trading companies and colonies that competed with other Atlantic powers. The main focus of the course is the initial inroads that Scotland made into the Atlantic. Students can propose either “a new colony or plantation, a company or a trade network” that they have designed themselves. According to the University’s Degree Programme of Study, the assignment is worth 30% of the grade.