Resident permitsDutch Minister Rita Verdonk said he is “not happy” with the huge increase in the price of a Dutch residence permits, as the Dutch parliament debated the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of the IND (Immigration Naturalization Department), which raised the price of a temporary residence permit from 56 euros to 430 euros in one year.
Individuals must pay 890 euros for a permanent permit. University students and personnel have complained about the steep permit price increases, and the Minister has now pledged to find a “solution” to the problem. The permit price rise accounts for 20 million euros, however, which, despite the Minister%s apparent displeasure, has already been incorporated in this year’s budget. Last month Dutch Premier Balkenende stated that foreigners are important to Holland’s ‘knowledge economy’ and exorbitant residence permit fees are seen as yet another obstacle to attracting quality foreign personnel to these shores. One solution being considered by Minister Verdonk is to have the Ministry of Education pay part of the residence permit costs.
Desert degrees
Qatar’s Amir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurated ‘Education City’ on Monday, boosting the Gulf state’s bid to become a regional academic hub. Education city, billed as the “biggest of its kind in the world”, will host US universities that have opened branches in Qatar. The city is reportedly the costliest education project in the world and US universities having branches in the city include Cornell, Virginia Commonwealth and Texas A & M. Leading European educational institutions will follow US universities in opening branches in the city. It is unknown if TU Delft plans to participate.
English Page
New feature of the English Page: the “Bulletin Board”. Foreign students, staff, TU coordinators, send d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl news and info about upcoming events involving or of (possible) interest to members of TU Delft’s foreign community. We’ll post it on the Bulletin Board. Organizing a party, meeting, outing, know of a fun event in or outside of Delft… Start spreading the news via our Bulletin Board. Send us details as far in advance of the happening as possible.
Science week
For the 18th consecutive year, the Netherlands will hold its national ‘Science Week’, running until October 22nd. This year’s theme is ‘quality of life’, and universities, hospitals, laboratories and companies will host open-house days. TU Delft’s Botanic Garden, Museum of Technology and Aerospace Engineering Faculty have a variety of activities planned for Sunday October 19th. For more information contact Wendy Pouwer at w.pouwer@weten.nl.
Eight metres high
After a month of peaceful protests and strong international pressure, Israel has made a concession in the construction of its controversial ‘security barrier’. Originally, the route of this barrier would cut across the property of the Palestinian al-Quds University, which is located in an eastern suburb of Jerusalem. The eight-metres-high barrier would effectively slice the university in two: the university would lose a third of its land, including the only decent sport facilities to be found on the West Bank.
Press Shift!
Alex Halderman, a Princeton graduate student, got on the wrong side of SunnComm Technology this month. SunnComm specializes in software that prevents illegal copying of music. Halderman is an academic authority on that subject. He was the first to try out Sunncomm’s new MediaMax CD-3 software, on the CD ‘Comin’ where I’m from’ of nu-soul-singer Anthony Hamilton. MediaMax CD-3 places two versions of each track on a CD % one to play in standard CD players, the other for computer use with the encryption software. When the CD is placed in a PC, the software automatically installs a driver that prevents unauthorized copying. Halderman soon discovered that you could bypass this protection by using a trick which is common to the advanced computer user. By simply holding down the Shift-key while putting the CD in the PC, Halderman blocked Windows from loading the driver automatically. The day after Halderman published his findings on the Internet, SunnComm’s stock already fell 20 percent. The company threatened the student with a lawsuit. SunnComm cited financial damages of 10 million dollars: the graduate students should pay for his ‘disclosure of industry secrets.’ SunnComm CEO Peter Jacobs even called the Shift-key trick a ‘design element’ of the new system, to the amusement of many experts. SunnComm has since withdrawn its legal threat. Incidentally, Anthony Hamilton’s album got rave reviews.
Resident permits
Dutch Minister Rita Verdonk said he is “not happy” with the huge increase in the price of a Dutch residence permits, as the Dutch parliament debated the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of the IND (Immigration Naturalization Department), which raised the price of a temporary residence permit from 56 euros to 430 euros in one year. Individuals must pay 890 euros for a permanent permit. University students and personnel have complained about the steep permit price increases, and the Minister has now pledged to find a “solution” to the problem. The permit price rise accounts for 20 million euros, however, which, despite the Minister%s apparent displeasure, has already been incorporated in this year’s budget. Last month Dutch Premier Balkenende stated that foreigners are important to Holland’s ‘knowledge economy’ and exorbitant residence permit fees are seen as yet another obstacle to attracting quality foreign personnel to these shores. One solution being considered by Minister Verdonk is to have the Ministry of Education pay part of the residence permit costs.
Desert degrees
Qatar’s Amir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurated ‘Education City’ on Monday, boosting the Gulf state’s bid to become a regional academic hub. Education city, billed as the “biggest of its kind in the world”, will host US universities that have opened branches in Qatar. The city is reportedly the costliest education project in the world and US universities having branches in the city include Cornell, Virginia Commonwealth and Texas A & M. Leading European educational institutions will follow US universities in opening branches in the city. It is unknown if TU Delft plans to participate.
English Page
New feature of the English Page: the “Bulletin Board”. Foreign students, staff, TU coordinators, send d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl news and info about upcoming events involving or of (possible) interest to members of TU Delft’s foreign community. We’ll post it on the Bulletin Board. Organizing a party, meeting, outing, know of a fun event in or outside of Delft… Start spreading the news via our Bulletin Board. Send us details as far in advance of the happening as possible.
Science week
For the 18th consecutive year, the Netherlands will hold its national ‘Science Week’, running until October 22nd. This year’s theme is ‘quality of life’, and universities, hospitals, laboratories and companies will host open-house days. TU Delft’s Botanic Garden, Museum of Technology and Aerospace Engineering Faculty have a variety of activities planned for Sunday October 19th. For more information contact Wendy Pouwer at w.pouwer@weten.nl.
Eight metres high
After a month of peaceful protests and strong international pressure, Israel has made a concession in the construction of its controversial ‘security barrier’. Originally, the route of this barrier would cut across the property of the Palestinian al-Quds University, which is located in an eastern suburb of Jerusalem. The eight-metres-high barrier would effectively slice the university in two: the university would lose a third of its land, including the only decent sport facilities to be found on the West Bank.
Press Shift!
Alex Halderman, a Princeton graduate student, got on the wrong side of SunnComm Technology this month. SunnComm specializes in software that prevents illegal copying of music. Halderman is an academic authority on that subject. He was the first to try out Sunncomm’s new MediaMax CD-3 software, on the CD ‘Comin’ where I’m from’ of nu-soul-singer Anthony Hamilton. MediaMax CD-3 places two versions of each track on a CD % one to play in standard CD players, the other for computer use with the encryption software. When the CD is placed in a PC, the software automatically installs a driver that prevents unauthorized copying. Halderman soon discovered that you could bypass this protection by using a trick which is common to the advanced computer user. By simply holding down the Shift-key while putting the CD in the PC, Halderman blocked Windows from loading the driver automatically. The day after Halderman published his findings on the Internet, SunnComm’s stock already fell 20 percent. The company threatened the student with a lawsuit. SunnComm cited financial damages of 10 million dollars: the graduate students should pay for his ‘disclosure of industry secrets.’ SunnComm CEO Peter Jacobs even called the Shift-key trick a ‘design element’ of the new system, to the amusement of many experts. SunnComm has since withdrawn its legal threat. Incidentally, Anthony Hamilton’s album got rave reviews.
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