The week in higher education – 12 September 2019

The list of people who have had enough of experts may soon include Scotland’s tourist board, after researchers from New Zealand uncovered evidence that the Loch Ness Monster may, in fact, be a large eel. The scientists from the University of Otago have been collecting DNA samples from the famous deep-water loch in a bid to catalogue all its living species. Their analysis ruled out the presence of large creatures put forward as explanations for Nessie, including fish such as sturgeon and even a prehistoric reptile. But they found large amounts of eel DNA, including European eels that migrate all the way from the other side of the Atlantic. Neil Gemmell, a geneticist from Otago, said that although their data could not determine the eels’ size, “we can’t discount the possibility that what people see and believe is the Loch Ness Monster might be a giant eel”. We have long known Nessie to be a slippery customer, so it may not be too far from the truth.

The head of an interdisciplinary technology research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has stepped down after accusations in a magazine article that the lab tried to hide donations made by the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Joi Ito resigned as director of the MIT Media Lab after The New Yorker claimed that the institute had received millions of dollars from Epstein even while he was listed as a disqualified donor. The New Yorker reported that staff in Professor Ito’s office referred to Epstein as “Voldemort” or “he who must not be named” as it had become established practice to keep the donations anonymous. MIT will now investigate the magazine’s claims. Epstein, a high-profile investor and convicted sex offender, died in jail last month while awaiting prosecution on sex trafficking charges.

Higher education has been embroiled in the UK’s intensifying Brexit storm in more ways than one, with the sudden departure of Jo Johnson as universities minister being the major talking point. But it has also emerged that the desire of his brother, prime minister Boris Johnson, to hold a general election on 15 October may have been driven in part by a belief that such a date might potentially minimise the student vote (which is not known to be too partial to the Tories). The Times said the PM’s campaign team had privately admitted that a 15 October election “could limit the number of students registering to vote” because it gave them less time to register their term-time address. The report prompted a flurry of tweets and calls for students – who can legitimately be registered at their home and university address, provided they vote in only one place – to ensure that they are on the electoral register.

With the legalisation of cannabis in Canada, it probably was just a matter of time before the drug became a more bone fide subject of study in the country’s universities. Nevertheless, an online course explicitly teaching people how best to grow marijuana was perhaps a bit more than expected. That is the aim of a course being offered by the University of Guelph, part of a new specialisation in its horticulture certificate programme, according to the broadcaster CBC. The university says the courses are aimed at domestic growers and those wanting to enter the newly blossoming industry in Canada. “This course will clarify fact from myth and provide scientifically backed information on cannabis production,” said graduate student Brandon Yep, who is teaching the course.

The death of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe may have prompted many to remember his bizarre brushes with the world of higher education. Perhaps the strangest tale involved an assistant registrar who was suspended from her post after it was alleged that Mr Mugabe had been provided with a mortar board for a graduation ceremony that was too small. Ngaatendwe Takawira was accused in 2015 of breaking labour laws because Mr Mugabe was unable to wear the cap while presiding over the ceremony at the University of Zimbabwe, where he was chancellor. It was even reported that a ceremony was delayed by 45 minutes while a replacement cap was found. Ms Takawira denied wrongdoing and took the case to Zimbabwe’s High Court in a bid to be reinstated.