Headlines

If Education Minister Loek Hermans gets his way, within a fewyears Schools for Higher Vocational Education will be permitted toorganize non-vocational academic programs, just like universities.By way of compensation, the universities will be allowed to offervocational programs. The minister proposes these changes in aconsultation document about the introduction of the new Bachelor's/ Master's degree system (BA-MA). He expects the change to betterprepare higher education for international competition. Also, theminister wants use quality guarantees to improve the image of Dutchhigher education abroad. The universities would like the ministryto fund extensions of all course programs from four to five yearsunder the BA-MA system. However, the minister is willing to pay forfour, but not five years. Longer programs would be allowed, but theuniversities themselves would have to find the money. For the timebeing the minister is only prepared to co-finance a few experimentswith master programs for academic high fliers.

Surveillance

Store keepers, citizens and restaurant owners are all happy thatsurveillance cameras are to be installed to combat vandalism in theUtrecht inner city. It remains to be seen, however, whetherstudents on a night out will be equally delighted to havethemselves watched all the time. Those who do not particularlyrelish that Big Brother feeling will have to avoid the 22-cameraroute. Police announced Monday that the surveillance route willinclude Neude, Vinkenburgstraat, Bakkerstraat, Steenweg,Mariastraat and Mariaplaats.

Firework bombs

Two firework bombs caused considerable damage at the Ina BoudierBakkerlaan (IBB) student-housing complex last week. The weekendstarted with number 65's mail box being blown up at night. The nextnight a car was demolished in the same way. The IBB tenants areangry and unhappy with the behavior of the police, who dismissedthe outrages as relatively innocuous forms of vandalism. Accordingto Ruut Brandsma, a member of the tenants' committee, the bombswere powerful enough to make casualties a real danger. He urges theSocial Housing Foundation (SSH) and the police to install propersurveillance cameras at the complex and put up posters to make theperpetrators aware of the potential consequences of theiractions.