Bij nader inzien is er geen bewijs dat melk goed is tegen hart- en vaatziekten. Dat schrijven Amerikaanse en Wageningse wetenschappers in een gezamenlijke verklaring.
Delen
Vorige maand ontstond commotie over een persbericht Wageningen Universiteit. Daarin werd gesteld dat het gezond is om dagelijks drie glazen melk te drinken. Stichting Wakker Dier beschuldigde de universiteit ervan misleidende reclame te maken voor de zuivelindustrie. Daarop paste de instelling het persbericht aan en claimde bescheidener: “Melk lijkt goed tegen hart- en vaatziekten”.
Vervolgens eiste één van de co-auteurs van het onderzoek, Harvard-hoogleraar Walter Willett, dat de Wageningse universiteit het hele persbericht zou intrekken omdat de onderzoeksgegevens verdraaid zouden zijn. Na overleg tussen de wetenschappers schrijven de wetenschappers nu dat op basis van hun studie geen aanbevelingen kunnen worden gedaan over “de consumptie van melk of andere zuivelproducten”. Daarvoor is meer onderzoek nodig.
Hun wetenschappelijke artikel trekken ze evenwel niet in. De onderzoekers combineerden de uitkomsten vier Europese studies over de gezondheidseffecten van melk, waaruit bleek dat de kans op hart- en vaatziekten kleiner was bij mensen die dagelijks drie glazen melk dronken. Maar ze erkenden dat melk volgens andere studies niet meer of minder kans geeft op hartaanvallen of beroertes – de meest voorkomende hart- en vaatziekten.
Wakker Dier heeft intussen een klacht ingediend bij de Reclame Code Commissie. De dierenactivisten hopen dat persberichten van universiteiten ook onder de regels van de reclame vallen. Ook willen ze “dat grondig wordt uitgezocht hoe het kan gebeuren dat het gesponsorde melkonderzoek zo kon worden verdraaid ten gunste van de sponsor”, schrijft Wakker Dier vandaag in een persbericht. Er zou onafhankelijk onderzoek moeten worden gedaan naar “de vele sponsorcontracten” van de universiteit.
Russian millions
Russia has given 3.3 million euro grant to Dutch professor, Peter Sloot, of the University of Amsterdam, for the setting up of a graduate programme and research laboratory at the University of St Petersburg. Professor Sloot will set up a research program focusing on urgent computing, which is software used during emergency situations, such as floods, pandemic or terrorist attacks, that allow computers to gather and analyse information.
US less popular
Fewer Dutch students are opting to pursue their studies in the United States. Only 1,830 Dutch students decided to do an internship or study in the US last year, which was a drop of 2.1 percent compared to 2008. According to the annual Open Door report, the number of Dutch students going to the US had been rising since 2004. Conversely, 2,318 US students came to the Netherlands to study in 2008, a 13.7 increase over the previous year.
Twitter
TU Delft is now available on Twitter. The university announced that it had decided to set up a Twitter account because Twitter will allow the university to “enter into a dialogue with people, rather than simply ‘sending’ information”. Thus far TU Delft on Twitter has been a success: with more than 1,500 tweeters, TU Delft is third on the list of high-scoring Twitter universities, behind only Utrecht and Groningen.
Alumni map
An interactive map showing the distribution of all TU Delft alumni across the globe has now been added to university’s alumni website. The online atlas was created with the help of more than a hundred TU Delft alumni from 25 countries and is intended to enhance the networks of international alumni, as well as enabling the media and prospective students to make direct contact.
TEDxAmsterdam
TEDxAmsterdam will be held on 30 November, and TU Delft is planning to simulcast the event on campus. TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a non-profit organisation that focuses on propagating inspiring ideas. The US has been hosting the annual TED conferences, at which speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to put forward their vision, since 1984. In previous years, speakers have included many prominent names such as Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Bill Clinton, Bono and Richard Dawkins. The conferences are only open to a select public and as a result TED has become a real phenomenon. A TED global meeting is now organised in Oxford every year. Locally organised TEDx meetings are another spin-off. TEDxAmsterdam starts at 09:00 on November 30.
New housing
A new residential complex on the Rotterdamseweg, providing accommodation for 267 students, was officially last week. Over the course of the next few months a further 95 student residences will be opened on the Mijnbouwplein. “There is still a shortage of student accommodation, but our efforts to deal with it are right on track,” said Paul Rullmann, the vice-president for education of TU Delft’s Executive Board. “This is essential if we are to continue to be an attractive university for students from the Netherlands and elsewhere.” Last year, TU Delft and Duwo reached agreement on the development of around 1,000 additional new student residences on the TU Delft campus. Recently, the city of Delft presented a study showing that the “most environmentally friendly alternative” for further development of the TU Delft area provides for 3000 student residences. The new hall of residence on the Rotterdamseweg has 202 rooms with en-suite bathrooms, and 65 with shared facilities.
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