“Boete langstudeerder houdt geen stand”

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Achterdeurtje

De Leidse hoogleraar Wim Voermans ziet een ‘juridisch achterdeurtje’: aangezien Zijlstra’s wet niet in een overgangsregeling voorziet, kan de rechter de wet toetsen aan het rechtszekerheidsbeginsel van de grondwet. Als er wel overgangsrecht in had gestaan, zou dat minder goed mogelijk zijn.

Kans

Ook de Tilburgse hoogleraar Maurits Barendrecht denkt dat de studenten kans maken in een rechtszaak. Zelf vertegenwoordigde hij als advocaat de Landelijke Studenten Vakbond, toen die in 1989 de Harmonisatiewet voor de rechter bracht. Je kunt de voorwaarden voor studenten niet plotsklaps veranderen, stelt hij. “Dat zou je eens halverwege de rit met de hypotheekrenteaftrek moeten proberen.”

Rechtsgelijkheid

De kritiek is niet nieuw voor Zijlstra. Maar die denkt dat het rechtsgelijkheidsbeginsel zeker zo zwaar weegt. Waarom zouden de huidige studenten moeten worden uitgezonderd van de langstudeerboete? Volgens hem is dat minstens zo oneerlijk en zal de regeling juridisch standhouden.

D66 triumphs
In the Delft municipal elections held on March 3, the Dutch political party D66 was the big winner. The centre-left party went from one seat on the municipal council to six seats, meaning the D66 is now as large as the PvdA (Labor Party), which, following its disastrous election results, dropped from 11 seats to six seats. Delft is no longer a PvdA stronghold. The student party Stip (Students Technology in Politics) increased its number of seats by one, to a total of three seats in government. GroenLinks (Green Party) increased its total by one, from four to five seats, while the VVD (centre-right) maintained its total of four seats. A new party, Onafhankelijk Delft (Independent Delft) claimed three seats on the council. The voter turnout was 54 percent, an increase of four percent from the last municipal elections held in 2006.

Merkx retires
Following the recent municipal elections, Lian Merkx, the leader of the Stip student political party and an influential Delft alderwoman, announced that she is stepping down from her position. Merkx said it was an ‘emotionally difficult choice’, while adding: “I’m still young and therefore still have the lots of opportunities for developing myself. I’m not sure what I’ll do next, but I certainly don’t rule out the possibility of one day returning to politics.”

Delft faces
Gerwin Hoogendoorn, co-founder of the TU Delft spin-off company, Senz Umbrellas, which produces the popular storm-proof umbrella, has been selected as the ‘Face of Delft’ – or more accurately, half of the face of Delft, as he will share the honour with Nina Voets, of Ciccionina, a foundation for young artists. The faces of Delft will now be responsible for helping to promote Delft nationally and internationally.

Bama
According to a recent survey of 8,000 European universities, most universities have implemented the bama (joint Bachelor/Master degrees) system. ECTS course credits are also now widely used across Europe. These developments – as envisioned by the Bologna Accords of 1999 – indicate that European higher education’s academic degree and quality assurance standards are now more compatible and comparable. In 2007, only 82 percent of European universities had implemented bama, but as of 2009 that figure was 95 percent. Meanwhile, ECTS use rose from 75 to 90 percent of all European universities. The Bologna Accords aimed to help strengthen European unity through higher education facilitating the mobility of students and teachers between European countries. Recent data suggests that all European countries are not yet equal, however. Some countries import and/or export more students than others. The Netherlands for example imports more students.

Nanodialogue
In the hope of increasing participation in the societal dialogue centring around nanotechnology, the Rathenau Institute has recently started a new website. On the site, the show’s presenter, Bram Sadeghi, goes in search of nanotechnology, a quest that begins at an underwear rack. The site also offers the latest news and intriguing design. The other Rathenau website (nanopodium) is more informative.

Thesis competition
A prize of 12,000 euro is on offer for the best (BSc or MSc) graduation project thesis about electric cars. This initiative was started by Joris Luyendijk, a journalist and author of a regular science feature in NRC Magazine. “The jury is not for or against this type of sustainable transportation,” Luyendijk says. “They just want to know and understand more about it.” Interested students can register until 1 September 2010.