Students

MAASTRICHT. Sun, music by the Tuna guys, drinks, and a brand-new issue of Mosaïek, otherwise known as the interdisciplinary cultural magazine of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, which seemed to be defunct for a while, but has now been restored to life by a group of students. The first copy was presented to dean Sophie Vanhoonacker during th...

Her life is at risk in Nigeria, because Judith (whose surname will be withheld for privacy reasons) is quite open about her sexual orientation in her home country. She is a lesbian, living and working as a human rights activist and who is now in Maastricht for three months. The Faculty of Law will take care of her as part of the Shelter City Progra...

MAASTRICHT. What does Maastricht have to offer in the cultural field? Young international people living in Maastricht can discover the city’s ‘hidden treasures’ at the new Meet Maastricht Festival from 26 until 28 May. There are over twenty activities, from meeting professional sustainable bee keepers to getting a guided tour thro...

MAASTRICHT. “And this is where the lobby will be. Imagine students with laptops and pizzas.” The guide giving the tour through the Sphinx building, points around him. At the moment, it is a construction site with wooden planks, dust, and cement everywhere. The only thing that is recognisable, is the lift shaft. In just over three months...

“I found the house more quickly than I thought,” says Mien Segers, professor of Corporate Learning, as she enters Inge Tielen's apartment. “The address was a white stain on Google Maps. And Belgians always lose their way in the Netherlands.” Another fact about the Belgians: they never come empty-handed. Segers hands a ba...

Annelot Pannekoek makes her way up the stairs with difficulty. Someone stood on her toe yesterday; it was completely blue this morning. “Maybe even broken, but it appears that they can't do anything about that, so it would be useless to go to the doctor. I taped it myself.” She is the host today, but the last one to arrive – s...

MAASTRICHT. Ladyfest is a festival to celebrate, empower and inspire women. This worldwide concept will come to Maastricht for the first time at the Mandril Cultural Centre on 6 and 7 May. It’s a do-it-yourself festival, meaning that instead of the organisers inviting and paying artists to come, Ladyfest is non-commercial and built from wi...

MAASTRICHT/BRISBANE. Maastricht University (UM) has dropped two places - from fourth to sixth - in the Young University Rankings for best young universities in the world. This has put the UM back in the same place as in 2015. The rankings were published yesterday during the Young Universities Summit in Brisbane, Australia. The Maastricht Executive ...

MAASTRICHT. Is there anyone here with salsa experience? Two hands are raised. “Great, there is a lot of work to be done,” concludes instructor Saiyd Sinlae, who is leading this Rag Week workshop on behalf of student dancing association Let’s Dance. He divides the group of people who have gathered here at Dancing Centre Bernaards o...

“Can we do anything?” Bas van de Valk asks Thara van der Borgh and Ilse van de Wijgert, who are busy in the kitchen. “No, everything’s ready, go sit down. Do you guys want a beer?” says Van de Wijgert, the host of the evening. Van der Borgh laughs: “We have a traditional division of labour tonight. Not deliberate...

MAASTRICHT. With almost 2,300 prospective students, the Maastricht University’s spring Bachelor's Open Day last Saturday had more visitors than ever before. Especially the Dutch study programmes of Medicine and Health Sciences were popular (both more than four hundred visitors). During the Open Day last autumn, on the other hand, there wa...

MAASTRICHT. You know it’s Stukafest (the student room festival held last Thursday, 9 February) when you’re in a quiet residential street and suddenly a group of Germans on bikes comes to a screeching halt in front of a student building. “What are you going to see?” “Who knows, we just signed up for something, so I gues...

“Stress seems to be a big thing at UCM that people talk about. It occurred to me after a while that maybe it’s not just me who has a hard time getting things done and we should do something about this,” says Amelie Gaetjen, a second year sociology student at UCM. She’s on the academic council and is one of the students behin...

A city walk, a traditional Dutch cookie (stroopwafel), drinks, a lot of tips and friendly words. Last Sunday the newly arrived international students were welcomed. About 120 students attended the ISAP Welcome Day.

MAASTRICHT. When he was 16, singer-songwriter Joshua Oudendijk (19), first-year student of European Studies, performed in the Rockhal in the city of Luxemburg, one of the most important pop podiums there. A year later, he was at the Luxemburg festival Sonic Visions, where bands like The Lumineers and Alex Vargas also played. “That is the a...

“Sorry, I haven’t vacuumed in a week. My mom would probably freak out!” Liza Hazenberg, the present ‘day in the life of’ student room candidate apologetically opens the door to her 18m2 territory. Her mom, she jokingly declares, “can be a real piece of work“ and worries a lot. It is rather unclear why, thou...

Visitors of the story festival China, Secret Stories, organised by Story-Line Maastricht in the Bonnefanten museum on Sunday 22 January, will receive a red envelope. The Chinese give these to family and friends at New Year and they usually contain money and some good advice. The visitors to the festival won't find that inside the envelope, but ...

MAASTRICHT. An intimate crowd gathers inside the Innbetween, which is decorated with warm lighting and a traditional Christmas tree, for the Unicef Charity Concert Thursday night. People chat and eat Mexican milk cake before the concert begins, which raises funds for children afflicted by the Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. An array of talented arti...

MAASTRICHT. “You meet new people and learn more about the university yourself, it’s a win-win situation”, that’s how the buddies of the International Student Ambassador Programme described their time showing new international students around. Last Wednesday, Maastricht University invited them to the Lumière to reward th...

MAASTRICHT. They were busy preparing for their Secret Santa – drawing lots and planning ‘pakjesavond’ as one does for the Dutch Sinterklaas – when the group of exchange students on the fourth floor of the Guesthouse on the Brouwersweg suddenly felt the need for a real Christmas tree. Priyanka Kanthan, Ilesha Bapat (both from...

MAASTRICHT. Not a shared second place but undisputedly at the top. Like last year, University College Maastricht has the very best broad bachelor’s programme in the Netherlands. This is the outcome of the adapted Keuzegids 2017 ranking which was published yesterday. UCM received a final grade of 9.8 instead of 8.8, as was announced last week....

MAASTRICHT. The Eiffel building on the Boschstraat is undergoing a metamorphosis. A large section of the striking old factory buildings will be occupied as of September by The Student Hotel. During yesterday’s kick-off, it was described as a “landing spot” where students will be able to stay for up to twelve months. The Student Ho...

MAASTRICHT. Last Thursday four Italian UM students who had raised funds for the refugees headed for the ‘Jungle’ in Calais and the smaller camp at Dunkirk. Calais has been completely wiped out, says third-year law student Angelica Giombini. “It’s as if a tsunami has washed everything away. In the mud you still find left-behi...

Many UCM students will wake up with a hangover Wednesday morning, and not just because the US Election Night at UCM turned out to be quite a party. Nobody, including speakers sociologist Kai Heidemann and political scientist Roberta Haar, expected a Trump victory. It was Dutch first-year Hanne Creijghton’s greatest fear. “He is someone ...

Mariëlle Heijltjes is being treated this evening to a full three-course meal: baguette with avocado tapenade and salmon to start, pasta with shrimps for the main and Swedish coconut balls to finish. “Did you come up with all that yourself?” she asks Caspar Naus as he gives a rundown of the menu. “No,” he replies, “I&rs...

“It’s too moist”, says Denise Sitters. “Not at all”, replies Nanne de Vries, professor of Health Promotion. “Just say that’s how your apple crumble is supposed to be. I like it.” Meanwhile, Wannes van Lonkhuijzen is standing at the kitchen counter with a knife and the second round of apple crumble. He...

MAASTRICHT. They had raised €4300 and collected sixty boxes of clothes, blankets, pillows, shoes and sleeping bags to transport to the refugee camp in Calais. Then the French authorities dismantled the ‘Jungle’. Right in exam week, too, says law student Angelica Giombini, one of the four Italian students who organised the initiativ...

“Oh, shit, we get scored on the food?” Loek Rekko hasn’t been following this Observant series. “Darn!” He apologises: he prepared the shoulder chops, but he didn’t buy it. “Also, it’s been in the oven for twenty minutes too long.” “My fault”, says Matthijs Hesselink. “I was lat...

With all the blankets, pillows, clothes and shoes they’ve collected, at least one student room is already overflowing. In addition, they managed to raise some 2500 euros in two weeks. They can hardly believe it; so touched were they that they even cried. “We were so surprised by all the appreciation and loving emails and messages”...

“Ooooh how sweet!” He has barely been inside for five minutes and Martin Paul has already charmed the girls from MAX (pronounced mex), presenting them with four cups and saucers with the Maastricht skyline. “My daughter moved to Berlin for her studies. When I found out she was drinking out of an empty Nutella jar, I had to go to I...

According to a note by the door, the doorbell to the Boschstraat 58c is broken. At the bottom of the note the occupant of 58b has written her phone number. It’s a considerate gesture. Before she picks up, however, three students with grocery bags cross the road to the flat. Yes, they are tonight’s chefs, they reply cheerfully, as Ischa ...

You know us: those annoying students blocking the door of your faculty and almost forcing an Observant into your hands. Sorry about that, but most people just don´t seem to know the Observant well enough to let the matter go around on its own. If you don´t want a newspaper, then don´t take it; it´s as simple as that. We c...

MAASTRICHT. All Maastricht student associations have recruited approximately the same number of new members this year. Just like in previous years, Saurus attracted the largest number of foreign students (23), followed by Koko (18), Tragos (10), and Circumflex (5). Koko and Saurus each registered one more new member than last year, leaving them ...

MAASTRICHT. Rubbish was an item on the agenda at the School of Business and Economics (SBE) council meeting last summer. The following dialogue developed:  “I have heard a rumour that wastepaper baskets are going to disappear from offices and classrooms,” says council member and lecturer Marc van Ekert. “And that we would ...

It takes a while for Professor Maria Jansen to find her way up to the students of Lux ad Mosam, who live above their clubhouse on the Bogaardenstraat. In the three years the students have lived there, the intercom has never worked. “That’s why we installed a normal bell”, says Nadine de Hoog. The problem is that it’s a black...

Two bicycles under the raised bed, chain wheels and sprockets on the wall and a row of tires under the window. Jesse Raas is obviously a cyclist. His room is the venue for this evening’s dinner with professor of Philosophy Tsjalling Swierstra and three other members of the student mountain bike and cycling association Dutch Mountains. Having ...

Tuesday evening, Bogaardenstraat 16. We’re sitting on the first floor of an apartment building where students and Maastricht locals live in harmony together. Most of the time, at least. The police were called in a few weeks ago, says psychology student Elizabeth de Nijs. “Nienke and I were just talking, with a bit of music on in the bac...

Did you go to an international school? Do your parents have different nationalities? Are you left- handed? Last Tuesday, around 350 first-year students were sent wandering around Brasserie Tapijn armed with a sheet of nine questions. Their task: to find, among the 60 buddies – also known as ambassadors – and their fellow students people...

No, Angeniet Helwig didn’t spend hours cleaning her room; she did remove some beer mats with messages of kissing, cuddling and boozing from the wall. Excuse me? Yes, that is a tradition at Lagakari – we’ll come back to the cuddling later. Helwig lives on the Grote Gracht, in a building that houses more than forty students. Perfec...

“Burgers are always good!” Sjoerd van Dijk calls from the kitchen as he does his final check: “Onions in the pan, potatoes in the oven, pasta salad, tomatoes.” Tonight’s guest – Professor Philip Vergauwen, dean of the School of Business and Economics – had already shown up at the Noormannensingel a week ear...

‘Need beer?’ asks a Koko member on a large sign he holds up into the air. Most students seem to be well equipped at the Market, where the opening of the Inkom 2016 took place Monday evening. Some beer has even found its way through the air. And when the Working Group Inkom pushes the start button, confetti is flying through the air and ...

MAASTRICHT. Yesterday 2,735 freshmen registered for the INKOM, the introduction week for first-year students from Maastricht University and Zuyd. That’s more than ever. The Inkom 2015 had 2,360 participants. “We are sold out”, says INKOM-chair Wim Renders. “The registration was closed Friday evening. Just before the en...

MAASTRICHT. Where last year the Spanish-Belgian singer Belle Pérez performed on the Markt during the Inkom opening, this year the choice falls on a duo working the turntables: Manuel Broekman and Géza Weisz. Who is making a repeat performance? Maastricht star Fabrizio. Just mentioning his name caused a lot of cheering when the artists were announce...

MAASTRICHT. Students in the Psychology faculty council want lectures to be recorded in the future. They have written a proposal on the matter that will be dealt with on Thursday afternoon in the faculty council meeting. “There is a need,” says Hanne van Kasteren, one of the authors of the proposal, which will be discussed in the faculty...

  MAASTRICHT. With 29 seats, Dope has come out as the largest student party at Maastricht University, just like last year. Competitor NovUM, who were the most powerful in 2014 but dropped back last year, has lost even more ground and now only has twelve seats. The new Wise party obtained three seats. The election results were made k...

Maximiliane Kolb, 23, Bachelor in International Business, Class of 2015 “The biggest struggle for me was that I didn’t know where to go and what to do. Of course Maastricht University offers things like the Business Days, which help you orientate yourself to some extent, but what I was missing was a career centre where you could go a...

MAASTRICHT. A thousand people on yoga mats at the Tapijn barracks. That is the aim of the Good Life Yoga Maastricht foundation. On 21 June, International Yoga Day, the organisers want to show that yoga is not “woolly, boring or just sitting down,” says psychologist Kim van Oorsouw, a researcher at Maastricht University. “On the co...

MAASTRICHT. Until 8 June only UM cardholders will be permitted to enter the University Library in the inner city. Students who don’t have a UM card can gain entry on presentation of their ID and certificate of registration. “We are working hard to guarantee that UM students have a study place during the exam period”, say the libra...

No, there have been no stories about students or employees drifting along the Tongersestraat after closing time. That is probably also due to the fact that the SBE Bar closes at 20:00hrs. The initiative for a faculty pub in the Kruithuis came from the students but the School of Business and Economics, caterer Albron and Facility Services fully supp...

MAASTRICHT. A trophy hung with black and white ribbons stands amongst sliced sandwich buns and a drone in the ‘Board Only’ room at the Sporthal Geusselt on the East side of the Maas on Friday 15 April. It is here that business students from all over Europe shed the confines of button-up shirts for jerseys and/or pompoms in Maastricht fo...

MAASTRICHT. How to make MECC more attractive to young people? With a MECCSpace, a community around start-ups, according to Alit Sudarsana and Stefani Christianti, an alumnus and a student of Maastricht University. And with that concept, they won €1,000 during the first Jules Challenge on Monday evening. Along with more than a hundred other st...

MAASTRICHT. It looks like more languages than just English and Dutch will soon be promoted at this university. A few weeks ago, the Executive Board, through its chairman Martin Paul, already stated that the UM may be bilingual, “but it is useful to teach people three languages. Students as well as staff. Which languages exactly, to what degre...

MAASTRICHT. Five years ago, the team from the School of Business and Economics won the first Maastricht Faculty Fight, a huge sports’ competition between the various faculties that is organised every fifth anniversary year of the UM. Last week a delegation of athletes from six faculties and representatives from the organisers - UM Sports - we...

It’s been raining non-stop for the past two weeks in Granada, Southern Spain, and I decide to take refuge in one of the many breakfast-bars the locals start their days in. Savoring my small Spanish breakfast (a toast and an espresso), I detect a strange odor. There’s no way around it: someone stepped into a pile of dog shit. Reflecting ...

MAASTRICHT. Vagina, vagina, vagina. It wasn’t too long ago that uttering this word in the public sphere could induce sharp rebuke or embarrassment. Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues, doesn’t just say the word - it’s entirely focused on it. The Universalis Society of Feminism (USF) is performing The Vagina Monologues th...

MAASTRICHT. Arabic music is blaring from the kitchen at the Jan Van Eyck Academy an hour before the doors are to open. Around twenty people from the Maastricht refugee centre (AZC) and a chef from Cato by Cato are manoeuvring their way around the countless pots and saucers and the occasional curious child. It’s Thursday 18 February and the so...

MAASTRICHT. You will find them everywhere in the city: yellow handlebar hangers. It's an initiative of Maastricht Bereikbaar (Maastricht Accessible) that wants to know if there are enough bicycle parking spaces in Maastricht. The handlebar hanger – with a text in Dutch – contains a chip with a unique number. This Thursday and ...

“I actually wanted to send myself one, but I didn’t in the end.” Two students from University College Maastricht are snooping through the handwritten notes on one of the common room’s walls. The cards are attached to heart-shaped cookies – how appropriate on Monday, 15 February, the day after Valentine’s Day. It...

MAASTRICHT. Mediation fees should largely be a thing of the past, especially after the Dutch Supreme Court made its verdict concerning agency fees, four months ago. The judge ruled that housing agencies are not allowed to charge mediation fees to both the landlord and the tenant (the only exception is when a tenant asks the housing agency to find a...

MAASTRICHT. Prince Bastiaan 1st and his Tempeleers put Vrow Wielemösj on the stage at Student Services last Thursday. In doing so, the landlady from the Platielstraat, the symbol of student Carnival, is back where she belongs. For the past two or three years she had remained in storage with the Maastricht Carnival Association, because the annu...

MAASTRICHT. “The alarm wakes me up. Bah, I have to go to university today.” This is how Amnesty International Maastricht Students (AIMS) started their presentation last Thursday during the first Maastricht Human Rights Prize competition. Installed by former mayor Onno Hoes as a farewell present, the competition aims to get young people ...

MAASTRICHT. Resuscitation training for secondary-school pupils is what UM runners will be sweating for on 17 January during the ‘Zweit veur Leid’ run. It is the third time that the University Fund/SWOL participates in a sponsored run with their own good cause. “It fits in well with our knowledge institute,” says Charlotte Gr...

MAASTRICHT. Three students from the Maastricht Science Programme won the NWO Top Sector Chemistry Student Competition last week. Onno Akkermans, Mitch Spronck and Pegah Keshaniyan went home with one thousand euro each. They created a bit with a built-in miniature sensor that detects awake bruxism. In layman’s terms: teeth gnashing during wake...

MAASTRICHT. ‘The next generation’ is the theme of this year’s Serious Request event, during which three popular radio DJs are locked up for six days in a small, temporary studio. Donations will go to children in conflict areas. “The university just had to be involved”, said Ellen Breevoort of the UM working group, who ...

MAASTRICHT. The American Dream was their point of departure: what is it in fact, why does everyone want it? The students from drama association Alles is Drama subsequently improvised and elaborated on the theme. This resulted in a mix of made-up scenes and a new interpretation of existing monologues and pieces of music: Day/Dream. The show, directe...

MAASTRICHT. Walking nine kilometres for a good cause. On Tuesday 8 December at 18:30hrs., a torchlight procession for employees and students will start from the Minderbroedersberg. The procession will pass the Sint Pietersberg and continue on to the Cannerberg and Louwberg, pausing for hot chocolate and glühwein in the courtyard of Chateau Neercann...

MAASTRICHT. Tuesday evening, the Maastricht city council said ‘yes’ to the plans for the establishment of The Student Hotel in the Eiffel building at the top of the Boschstraat. The following morning, Gerdo van Grootheest, the alderman concerned, twittered that he was “very happy”. He had a tough time these past few weeks. ...

MAASTRICHT. The technical universities of Twente and Eindhoven have raised concerns about the study programmes at the BISS institute Business Intelligence and Smart Services (BISS) institute in Heerlen. The institute, established by the School of Business and Economics (SBE) and partners, will focus on transforming big data into services. The techn...

MAASTRICHT. Nine months until you can hold your baby in your arms – for some parents the wait is unbearable. Enter Peekaboo, a startup that aims to convert ultrasound scans into virtual reality so soon-to-be parents can have a 360 degree look at their baby and even ‘hold’ it. Yesterday, they won the Local Hero Award and received 1...

MAASTRICHT. What is more important: targeting poverty or human rights? This is the question that occupied Guleid, chairman of the Somali Human Rights Centre and participant in Maastricht’s Shelter Programme, at the Somaliland Human Rights Info Night last Tuesday. Leonie Eilers, a first-year student of European Public Health, heard about th...

MAASTRICHT. Jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, witches, mind-blowing costumes, trick-or-treating, ringing doorbells, candy, chocolate, caramel apples, parties, late October… It is Halloween . Fuelled by an unbridled Halloween obsession, enthusiasm for choosing original costumers and desire to experience something out-of-the-ordinary, Maastricht is a v...

MAASTRICHT. Students from the Refugee Project helped to receive new refugees in the Netherlands last week. On 13 October, the Maastricht city council decided to accept hundreds of additional asylum seekers in the Limmel refugee centre. “I received a phone call asking if there were volunteers from the Refugee Project who’d be willing to ...

I get to the library around 8:15 and there’s already a huge queue waiting at the centre of the glass windows. As its namesake would suggest, the Running of the Germans is a Maastricht phenomenon in which German students line up before the opening of the library to vie for the best study spot. If you’re an exchange student, like me, or j...

MAASTRICHT. Whether they had come to Maastricht for a semester, a year or a full three-year study programme, all non-EU students stood in line last Tuesday at the Student Service Centre to collect their residence permits. Since 2010 the Maastricht University Visa Office has organised a centralised pick-up-your-permit-day twice a year. On Tuesday, a...

MAASTRICHT. The Annual Faculty of Law Ball contained all the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood red carpet event. It was sold out already weeks before the event and held at Maastricht's Ipanema venue. A range of different music genres were played to suit everyone's taste; a smooth concoction of jazz to help people glide into the celebratory s...

A group of seven gathers in a tight circle, balancing coffee mugs and cookies on their laps, on Monday evening in the new building of the InnBetween Student Chaplaincy on Capucijnenstraat 122. Beneath paintings entitled Life, Process of Life, and Flow of Life, they sit discussing the artwork as well as topics that reach far beyond the scope of any ...

MAASTRICHT. “I want to play roulette though!” It’s Monday evening at the Muziekgieterij, where the International Student Network (ISN) is hosting Social Monday for the second time since the start of this academic year. Striped, spotted and floral-ed sofas are spread around the venue in a charmingly alluring fashion that draws grou...

MAASTRICHT. The Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) gave the go-ahead for two new science master’s programmes during the summer: Biobased Materials and Systems Biology. The minister had already given approval in January. The masters fit in well with the UM strategy to boost science education. The study program...

MAASTRICHT. Maastricht’s Stadspark was transformed into a hub of oriental dance, music, and energy by Not Just A Number, a new NGO in Maastricht, dedicated to the “re-humanisation of refugees”. On Wednesday, the 26th of August, the event entitled Culture Lovers, was held, in aims to help integrate the growing number of refugees in...

MAASTRICHT. Aurelia Streit, of the Student and Society Initiative (SSI), has won the Student Award 2015 for her work coordinating the Refugee Project Maastricht. The aim of the project is to bring students and refugees from the Maastricht asylum centre together to interact and socialise, and give the refugees a break from their day-to-day wait for ...

MAASTRICHT. It’s raining in Maastricht. Clouds cover every last bit of benevolent sky that attempted to smile down upon us today, thus painting the town a sepia-like tone that can only be compared to the softened hue of a late 2012 Taylor Swift music video. Basically, it’s the perfect time to stare out of one’s window and reflect ...

MAASTRICHT. The higher the education, the more drugs used Have you ever smoked a joint? Yes, say one in three with higher education. They have experimented much more often with drugs than others, Statistics Netherlands reports. Graduates from schools of higher education and universities also have more experience with cocaine, ecstasy or amphe...

MAASTRICHT. The lecture hall of the School of Business and Economics has gone through some significant changes over the summer. Gone are the long benches; they have been replaced by individual chairs with their own folding table and power point. Also, a hundred extra seats were added to the hall.

MAASTRICHT. A queue already beginning on the Grote Gracht. This Wednesday morning the faculty of Arts and Social Sciences welcomes the freshmen. "Are you from Belgium", one of the first- year students asks. Yes, is the answer from a fellow student. "From the Dutch or French part?" "Dutch." And off they g...

MAASTRICHT. Three students of Maastricht University were driven by a very special fellow taxi driver from the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to Maastricht, last Monday. Martin Paul, president of Maastricht University, was at Amsterdam Airport for the Holland Scholarship event with the Dutch minister of education. Could he serve as a pick-up s...

MAASTRICHT. Badminton, fencing, rugby, rowing, cycling, climbing, music and sun. Every UM sports association was at the Griend to show how much fun it is to participate, this Thursday afternoon. A lot of students came and tried to climb a wall, to dive with a dolphin and to play badminton. Or just sat together.

MAASTRICHT. There were loads of opportunities to dance at Cultural Valley in the Stadspark on Wednesday evening during the Inkom. The pop songs of the bands, the bass tunes of the DJ’s and the beats of the drum band – they all got people swinging. Those who preferred to watch could see Project Sally’s break-dancers and hip hoppers...

MAASTRICHT. Always loved to swim and dance? At this moment a lot of fresmen have put on their swimming suits to enjoy a couple of hours in and around the Maastricht swimmingpool Geusseltbad. Tonight, Wednesday 19 August, there will be a cultural festival and food market in the Stadspark.

MAASTRICHT. An hour ago the Inkom festival at the Sphinxkwartier started with two stages, a lot of music, places to dance, eat, drink and relax. It's quite crowded.

It was rather cold at the Day@theUni in the garden of de building of the School of Business and Economics Tuesday afternoon. Most freshmen stayed inside the inner city mensa for their lunch and missed a first acquaintance with study associations like Orakel (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences), Santé (Faculty of Health and Medicine) and  Gaiu...

Yesterday, about 2300 freshmen started with their new life in Maastricht. On the first day of the Inkom 2015 they had lunch in the former military barracks of the Tapijnkazerne and were around 20:00 officially welcomed by DJ Enzo Zanetti, De Heeren van Aemstel Band, Fabrizio and Belle Perez at the Markt in the centre of Maastricht. Today there is t...

MAASTRICHT. Even before you cycle into the car park at the Geusselt as a visitor on Saturday 13 June, you are met by a wave of sound. One bad German hit song after the other blares from the loudspeakers, participants of the Royals Cup joining in at the top of their voices when they need not play themselves. Their colleagues compete in a rather swea...

MAASTRICHT. Inkom wouldn’t be the same without Fabrizio. The Maastricht singer will make his appearance again during the Inkom opening event on the market this year. Spanish-Belgian singer Belle Pérez will follow him. No Dutch main act this time. “We wanted an artist who sings in another language, so that we appeal to everyone,&r...

MAASTRICHT. What can 3D printing mean to the MTB, the sheltered workshops in Maastricht. In asking themselves this question, a group of students from the School of Business and Economics won the Maastricht Student Sustainability Competition last Friday. The participants of the annual sustainability competition, organised by the Maastricht city coun...

“Writing starts with a sense of a tension, which gets into my head. A friend and writer once said to me: ‘I have that scream in my head and I need to get rid of it, in a manner that is as beautiful and elegant as possible.’” This is how Man Booker Prize winner John Banville explained how a new story of his is born.  ...

MAASTRICHT. Thirty spinning bikes are waiting in a brand new studio. A class of primary school pupils is using the large sports hall where three basketball games can take place simultaneously. In the new gym on the first floor, university students are doing their thing this Tuesday evening. The first part of the new University Sports Centre in Rand...

MAASTRICHT. “Progress, ah! Progress, ah!” Performance artist Rachel Solomon is performing her interactive poem about politics on the little stage next to the campfire at the St Michel farm, just outside Maastricht. Her performance is part of the annual WE festival, a collaborative, non-profit and sustainable festival organised by Maastr...

King’s day! On Monday 27 April Maastricht celebrates the birthday of King Willem-Alexander with music on the Maastricht Markt and Stadspark (start 14.00 hours), and a free market for children and families in the Stadspark. And of course a lot of orange colored outfits and gadgets. On Sunday there is a King’s night in the Stadspark (star...

MAASTRICHT. The Inkom Working Group has chosen new activities and new (historical) locations this year. Most of the activities on the first day of the introduction week for first-year students - Monday 17 to Friday 21 August - will take place at the Tapijn barracks.  On Monday afternoon, after registration at the School of Business and Econom...

MAASTRICHT. Student Services has warned students against scabies. Various student organisations reported to local health authority GGD South Limburg that members suffered from this skin disease. “Scabies is caused by a tiny mite that burrows under the skin and leaves behind certain substances. This starts to itch,” says Casper den Heije...

MAASTRICHT. The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) will change its name to International Student Network (ISN). “We want to make it clear that we are here for all international students, not just for exchange students. It is something that the university also wanted, ” says promo co-ordinator Nadim Gijsen. In February, it was announced that ...

MAASTRICHT. Long-distance relationships. Some say they’re perfect. They keep things interesting; you’re always excited about seeing each other, and the time you do spend together is special. The flip side of the coin is that you spend most of your time missing each other and communicating mainly via social media. Long-distance relations...

MAASTRICHT. Those who order writing materials at aGreenStory, a webshop started by University College Maastricht student Yağmur Masmas, are now able to pick the order up for free at the Green Office. Masmas started a shop with sustainable study materials in high school. Last year she expended to a webshop, which was nominated for the ASN Bank World...

MAASTRICHT. “Here, take some ice cream.” It’s Thursday evening at Innbetween, the new location and name of the Ecumenical Student Chaplaincy Tafelstraat 13, and the room is buzzing with chatter and laughter. About thirty students and twenty refugees are here for the first activity of the Refugee Project. They’ve just eaten t...

MAASTRICHT. Is it a good idea to increase the funding for so-called STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and dramatically decrease the funding for non-STEM fields, such as Arts and Social Sciences, Economics and Politics? That was the question at the Maastricht University Debating Championship, last Monday evening in the ...

MAASTRICHT. “Let them in, let them in,” students chant as the door to the crowded lecture hall (ninety seats) at University College closes. People interested in the debate organised by The New University Maastricht wait outside on Tuesday evening. This new community, just like the occupiers of the Maagdenhuis in Amsterdam are pleading f...

MAASTRICHT. Where can I find the closest GP? What do I do with my rubbish? How do I find a room to rent? For answers to questions like these and more, students can now go to mymaastricht.nl, an English-language portal with information on transportation, housing, healthcare and other practical matters. The portal was launched last Tuesday. An initi...

MAASTRICHT. Students who want to set up an initiative or organisation often find themselves facing all sorts of issues: where to get funding, how to book an office space and so on. To answer these questions, the Student Project Team (SPT) will launch an online helpdesk as of next week. Students have long been calling for a platform with informatio...

MAASTRICHT. In addition to the master’s of European Studies, another four UM programmes were assessed in this round. The master’s of Health Food Innovation Management in Venlo received a pass, as did the bachelor’s and the master’s of European Public Health. The last two also received the mark of ‘internationalisation&...

MAASTRICHT. Again, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has received a yellow card for one of its programmes. This time it is for the research master’s of European Studies, as was announced by the auditors of Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) last Tuesday. In 2013, six other FASoS programmes were also deemed...

MAASTRICHT. Tafelstraat 13, the University Chaplaincy, is leaving the building that bears its name. The new location will be Capucijnenstraat 122. “A huge step for us, as we have been at Tafelstraat 13 since we started in the nineteen-seventies,” says student pastor Arie de Fijter. “But it is a step that we have been considering f...

MAASTRICHT. "Is there anything for gay students to do in Maastricht?” When this question was asked two months ago, the answer was close to no. Every now and then the COC organised a party and there is of course the Sway Café, but that was about it. Now, the answer is completely different. All of a sudden there are plenty of activities fo...

MAASTRICHT. A Maastricht student team won the University Business competition in Amsterdam last week. Five SBE students beat the other twelve competing university teams in a case competition about a business in the music industry. Utrecht came second, Leiden third. Create a school for young, talented DJs and have them play as supporting act to big...

MAASTRICHT. A few feeble jokes and “people sometimes stare a little more,” but other than that, Islamic students in Maastricht have experienced no extra trouble in the aftermath of the attacks in Paris. At least that is what a small sample of foreign prospective medical students say, who have been in Maastricht for nearly five months to...

MAASTRICHT. Since a few days ago, the city of Maastricht has been offering free Wi-Fi on the Markt, the Onze Lieve Vrouweplein, Amorsplein, Stationsplein and the area around the Health Campus and the Maastricht University Medical Centre in Randwijck. The Wi-Fi network is a trial project until December 2015. The free offer of wireless Internet in Ma...

MAASTRICHT. Brindsley Miller, a young artist, and his fiancée Carol Melkett want to impress a rich art collector who has come to look at Brindsley’s work. That is why they steal their neighbour’s expensive antique furniture. Things do not go according to plan. Carol’s father also decides to pay a visit; Brindsley and Carol get int...

MAASTRICHT. If you drink more than twenty glasses of alcoholic beverages a week, are you a problem drinker? The students in the Karl Dittrich hall at Student Services, where there was a discussion evening on drugs and alcohol last Tuesday, are of different minds. “That is about three glasses a day, that is not so much. Then you’re not a...

Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi’s name must have been written down many times yesterday. Like that of Elkin Musaev, a former Uzbekistani Ministry of Defence official, or United States army soldier Chelsea Manning. They are serving 10, 20 and 35 years in prison respectively. Amnesty International calls them prisoners of conscience, imprisone...

MAASTRICHT. “Are you hungry?” Admittedly, it’s a bit cynical to ask this question of students who have just started the challenge to live under the poverty line of €2.90 a day for five days. “Not at all”, says Berivan Dilan, student at University College Maastricht and board member of the committee organising the ...

MAASTRICHT. Yellow paper snowmen with umbrellas, pictures of students studying in the open air, mobile libraries, graffiti, art, the Lennon Wall full of post-its, policemen using force. Ruby Yeung, a master’s student of Arts and Heritage, has organised an exhibition about the student demonstration calling for genuine universal suffrage in her...

MAASTRICHT. The entire edition of the Keuzegids Universiteiten 2015 has to be reprinted because important data about ‘study success in first year’ were incorrect. This has consequences for most of the seventeen assessed Maastricht bachelor’s programmes. Law drops a few tenths (from 6.6 to 6.2) and is no longer in first but in four...

MAASTRICHT. The first part of the new university sports centre in Randwyck will open next summer. The official kick-off for the construction took place yesterday afternoon, Wednesday 29 October, in the presence of alderman Gerdo van Grootheest and Martin Paul, President of the Maastricht University Executive Board (UM is owner of the sports centre)...

MAASTRICHT. What would be your ideal place to grow old and die? This was the starting question for the second-year iArts students when they began work on their exhibition Senescence, from 6 to 8 November in the Kunstkwartier. “Quite a broad topic, but we managed to make it even broader, to ageing and dying in general”, laughs Suzanne De...

MAASTRICHT. University College Maastricht has again been chosen as the best broad bachelor’s programme in the Netherlands, writes the KeuzeGids 2015, published on Tuesday, 28 October. The grade given to UCM by students and experts is a staggering 10 out of 10. This is the highest mark ever for UCM, but also the best of all programmes assessed...

MAASTRICHT. Since 1 September, Maastricht students are no longer allowed to wear watches during exams. The new regulation was introduced to prevent fraud with smart watches, which are capable of connecting with the Internet. The ban is on all watches, says Caroline Kortbeek, exams co-ordinator at the School of Business and Economics (SBE). “S...

MAASTRICHT. The image of people, strolling around the city, all wearing so-called “Dirndl” and “Lederhosen”, the German “Tracht”, is usually connected to one wide-known special event: the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. This fair has its roots in 1810, when Ludwig von Bayern married Princess Therese, but this fac...

MAASTRICHT. "Success is a matter of luck; ask any failure." joked Robin Sieger, an awarded speaker on motivation and success at the Ambassador lecture series at the completely packed SBE Lecture Hall on Wednesday 25th September 2014. Sieger commenced by eloquently laying down the principles of success. Define your goal, create a flexible...

MAASTRICHT. In the past year, 93 per cent of all foreign first-year bachelors – 1,200 were expected – participated in one of the two free Basic Dutch courses. Two thirds of them passed the exam. It was the first time that Maastricht University had granted the long-desired wish of various student groups: free Dutch courses for foreign s...

THE NETHERLANDS. Never before has a Dutch university been among the fifty best universities in the world in an international ranking. The University of Amsterdam managed it in the latest QS ranking. Maastricht is in 118th place. Just like in other worldwide rankings, Dutch universities do well in the new comparison by the research bureau QS. Six a...

MAASTRICHT. “Climate change already has an impact on our health and safety. In the future, there will be a fight for raw materials; there may not be enough food. We have to take measures as quickly as possible to create a better environment.” For Maartje Zaal from the Green Office, it is clear why she is participating in the worldwide D...

MAASTRICHT. What do give-way road-markings look like? When should you yield? Officials from Veilig Verkeer Nederland (Road Safety in the Netherlands) answered these and other questions during a Traffic Safety workshop, which was held last Thursday during the Get Involved information market in the Student Services Centre. Various organisations withi...

MAASTRICHT. An interactive Second World War tour, music performances by young Limburg talent, an art workshop, free(dom) burgers and in the evening a techno party in student association Tragos’ Nox. That is how, on Saturday 13 September, youngsters and students will celebrate the fact that Maastricht was liberated seventy years ago, six month...

MAASTRICHT. Sarah Wagner, master’s student of International Laws, was nervous when she arrived in Australia last July. As head of the German delegation, she and the representatives of 19 other countries were there to discuss growth and job creation, global citizenship and sustainable development during the Y20, the official youth engagement g...

MAASTRICHT. Have you always wanted to meet Willem-Alexander and Maxima, the king and queen of the Netherlands, in person? The couple will be in Maastricht, this Saturday 30 August, for the celebrations of the 200 anniversary of the kingdom of the Netherlands. Maastricht was chosen as the venue for the festivities, because the city is regarded as &l...

MAASTRICHT. Waiting for new freshmen at the meeting point at the Dutch national airport, Schiphol. The past two weekends, approximately 125 foreign students from countries such as Brazil, China, Mexico, the United States, Denmark and Spain, were collected by Maastricht University’s Pick-Up Service. Next week, the first of September, they will...

MAASTRICHT. It's rather cold, but some fresmen and mentors don't hesitate at all to take a plunge in the Geusseltbad, today. Others stick to dancing and leave the aqua for what it is.

MAASTRICHT. Could you make a picture of us? With a big smile Breno Luna Meira (24) and Leandro Dias Romariz hand over a smartphone in the Stadspark this Wednesday evening. Inkom’s Cultural Valley is about to start. The two are from Brazil and have registered in Maastricht for the master Criminology (Breno) and Psychology of Work and Organisat...

MAASTRICHT. Charles de Roncourt (19) is from Paris, France. He has signed in at European Studies. He wears a T-shirt that was designed by a friend of his, with a drawing of a man walking away, seen from behind, a bag over his shoulders. Quite intriguing, this picture. Found any new friends already in the Inkom group? “There are a couple of n...

MAASTRICHT. She is called Anna-Maria (“with a hyphen”) Ostermann, she’s 20 years old, from Germany and she is visiting the info market on Tuesday, behind the Mensa at the Tongersestraat 53. That is the building where she will be found the next couple of years, studying International Business. Twenty years old already? “Yeah,...

MAASTRICHT. Yesterday, Sunday 17 August, early arrived  students from different faculties met at a get-together in the Student Services Centre. There was a free lunch, social activities and a welcome speech by the rector of Maastricht University, Luc Soete. 

MAASTRICHT. Carla Schmitt (Economics and Business) and Nina Bekele (International Business) used to live in Cologne, but are now inhabitants of Maastricht. The two just met. Schmitt and Bekele chose for Maastricht because of "the international orientation". Schmitt: "I appreciate the idea of studying with people from differ...

MAASTRICHT. At 11:00 o' clock this Monday (18 August) the registration for the Inkom 2014 has started.

MAASTRICHT. The Maastricht Science Programme will award its first bachelor’s diplomas in three weeks’ time. Where will the students end up? To which master’s will they be admitted? “Some of them already know,” says dean Thomas Cleij. “But in September, we will know exactly where everyone has ended up. That will b...

MAASTRICHT. Students of today will live to be a 100 years, on average. What does one do with all that time? Rudi Westendorp, professor in geriatrics medicine at Leiden University and director of the Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, advises them to start thinking about it now. “Don’t assume that you will retire and buy a boat when ...

MAASTRICHT.As of 1 September 2015, the basic study grant will be abolished. Dutch students and foreign students who work at least fourteen hours a week in the Netherlands, run the risk of losing out on at least five thousand euro (those living at home) and up to thirteen thousand euro (those living away from home) over a period of four years. Ever...

MAASTRICHT. Last year Dope forfeited six seats, but was still the most powerful student political party at Maastricht University. Now, it will have to share power with NovUM: both parties won a total of 22 seats in the various councils in the latest election. The results were announced in the Kruithuis this afternoon amid boisterous cheering. Dop...

UKRAINE. While the media report day in and day out on the situation in eastern Ukraine, recent UCM graduate Alisa Fluhrer spent the last few weeks visiting cities – amongst others - in the west. She was on the job for the Eastbook.eu portal, part of the European Voluntary Service (EVS) at the Common Europe Foundation, based in Warsaw. The Ukr...

MAASTRICHT. “We will now close the public part of the meeting.” Those who attend a faculty council or University Council meeting can be sure to hear the chairperson utter this mantra. What happens in those confidential meetings? We  employees and students, and above all voters - are not allowed to know. It is a secret. What is wors...

MAASTRICHT. Before Easter, the Executive Board decided that students who register too late for a block or exam would no longer be fined. The University Council’s Strategy Committee now fears that every faculty will come up with its own rules. They want alternative regulations – preferably based on best practices – to be introduced...

MAASTRICHT. After the summer, Maastricht University intends to carry out a large-scale experiment using electronic fraud detection during exams. All faculties have agreed to participate in this trial. The faculty directors and chair persons of the examination committees have already given their approval. The School of Business and Economics (SBE) i...

MAASTRICHT. Over 200 students and entrepreneurs come together at the Maastricht Week of Entrepreneurship (MeWeek) from 14 until 16 May, the theme of which is Superheroes. “The evening program features inspiring talks by entrepreneurs from all over the world and during the day, we are organizing workshops covering key entrepreneurial skills&rd...

MAASTRICHT. On the first “real” day of the EuroMUN, Thursday first of May, one day after the Opening day the MECC is filled with dressed up students, creating a quite authentic and serious atmosphere for the Committee Sessions which are about to begin. EuroMUN is a Model United Nations Conference where meetings of various international ...

MAASTRICHT. An atmosphere of excitement was swinging in and around the theatre at the Vrijthof Monday night, where the First European Presidential Debate was hold from 7 to 8.30pm. Many of the 700 international students attending the discussion of the four candidates for the presidency of the European Commission had dressed up and were eagerly awai...

MAASTRICHT. “Well, this looks fancy.” Neighbours, parents and members admiringly inspect Christian student association Lux ad Mosam’s new accommodation. The students now have a living room, a hall with a bar and various spare rooms at their disposal above the COC Café on Bogaardenstaart 43. Apart from the association, there are al...

MAASTRICHT. Collectors, artists, families and a lot of pink– the setting at the Affordable Art Fair is very different from the one at TEFAF just a month ago. From Thursday to Sunday, 6 of April, the Timmerfabriek in Maastricht hosts 45 galleries exhibiting diverse contemporary art for less than 5000 euros. Picasso, Warhol and Monet were impr...

“Be quick: unique opportunity to attend the speech of President ‪#‎Obama this Wednesday in Brussels. Send a mail to campusbrussels@maastrichtuniversity with your phone number for more information. First come, first served. Registration closes today 5.30pm.” This message was sent via social media on Monday morning. Within five minut...

MAASTRICHT. ‘In 2015 the percentage of children who die before their fifth birthday must be reduced by two thirds compared to 1990.’ This is one of the Millennium Development Goals, which will be the key focus during the theme evening on child mortality organised by the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (I...

MAASTRICHT. What do you do with a student who, for the umpteenth time, comes to a tutorial group meeting unprepared? How do you deal with a group that depends too much on the tutor? And what is the best approach to that quiet member in the group? The DVD Tips from experienced tutors - which is a Leading-in-Learning project that is being launched in...

MAASTRICHT. The Maastricht police closed down a student party on the Ruttensingel prematurely last Saturday after complaints about noise. The one hundred to one hundred and fifty partygoers, mainly German students, were sent home. Sometimes the police only give a warning and the party can continue after the music has been turned down. This time, h...

MAASTRICHT. Since this week, everyone can have free Internet access, with WhatsApp, e-mail or Facebook on the Vrijthof. The Maastricht city council, Vodafone and MUMC+ launched this one-year experiment last Tuesday. The project costs 100 thousand euro (50 thousand for the city, the remainder being shared between the other two partners). Maastricht ...

MAASTRICHT. Enjoy your drinks, but be responsible. This was the message spread by the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) last Tuesday 18 February at their ‘Responsible Party’ at Café Cliniq. However, little of that message was to be seen when entering the bar around nine that evening. Instead, everybody was enjoying an international dinner,...

MAASTRICHT. The School of Business and Economics (SBE) looks back with satisfaction on its trial project using metal detectors to combat exam fraud. The test took place on 24 January during the Quantitative Methods 3 exam in the Mecc. Economics will continue to use the equipment in the future to detect mobile phones in the toilet facilities, said d...

MAASTRICHT. Students at the School of Business and Economics have expressed disappointment at the lack of critical thinking during their curricula. Therefore, the student members of the Faculty Council have proposed the introduction of a course on the history of economics. “If we do not know the history of economics, we are doomed to reproduc...

MAASTRICHT. Safeguarding existing catalogues of human rights and fundamental freedoms, that is what article 53 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is about. In short: member states may always provide their inhabitants with more protection in their own constitution than in the EU Charter, but never less. But does the fact that...

MAASTRICHT. The Pathé cinema on the Wilhelminasingel is going to close at the beginning of March. The lease contract is about to expire and the cinema chain and the owner could not agree on a flexible contract to bridge the time until the cinema has moved to a new location. According to Pathé, the present building is outdated. For that reason the c...

MAASTRICHT. A fortress under siege, is an apt comparison for the west hall of the Mecc. One sturdy guard after the other. At the bottom of the stairs, at the top of the stairs, in the corridors, uniforms everywhere: not a single miscreant could ever get through. It is Friday afternoon, 24 January, and some 800 second-year students of Economics and ...

MAASTRICHT. An information market where various student organisations present themselves; many students will recognise this from the Inkom. There was nothing like that for those who come to Maastricht in February, until now, that is. The Center for European Studies (CES) seized the opportunity to fill the gap and organised Get Involved, an informat...

MAASTRICHT. Small numbers belong on the left, large numbers on the right. Most Western people, who are used to writing from left to right, will instinctively agree with this. This is referred to as the natural number line, the way in which you arrange numbers in your head. Does one’s attention automatically go to the left when one thinks of a...

MAASTRICHT. How to restore trust between science, the media and the public? Not, at any rate, by priding oneself on being a researcher or by loudly announcing the umpteenth breakthrough. These words were spoken by rector Luc Soete during the celebration of the university’s 38th birthday, the foundation day, last Friday afternoon in the Mecc....

MAASTRICHT. ‘Let’s clean this shit up’ and ‘Let’s get rid of their shit’. Flyers showing messages like these can be found throughout the building of student association Circumflex. Their annual Serious Request party was held there on Wednesday 4 December. Serious Request (SR) has become a tradition: during the w...

MAASTRICHT. “The best students who want to come to Maastricht should not face any financial barriers,” said rector Luc Soete. So Maastricht University awards a number of scholarships every year. Some compensate tuition fees, others (the high-potential scholarships) also pay for a visa, insurance and residence permit. The forty-six schol...

MAASTRICHT. If you are walking through the city of Maastricht on this Monday morning, it’s not comparable to all the other Monday mornings you have experienced. It’s the 11th of November, the start of the Carnival season. All you see is people dressed like animals or people wearing neon-colored wigs. The smell of cigarettes and beer is ...

The Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas, observed on 5 December every year, is the Netherlands’ most eagerly awaited festival. Like Santa Claus in the US or Father Christmas in the UK, the tradition revolves around the joy of sharing and caring. While its popularity is easy enough to glean from the enormous fanfare surrounding it every year, its a...

MAASTRICHT. Do you enjoy walking? And do you want to get to know the landscape around Maastricht? As part of the Life in the Woods project, Marres Projects and TAAK invited three artists to design a walk centred around the landscape in all its manifestations. This Sunday for example Ruchama Noorda will guide you through the Eyserbos and Holset whil...

MAASTRICHT. The first 368 bachelor’s students completed the first module of their free Dutch course last week. It is not known yet whether they have all passed. Just before the summer, the Executive Board decided to give in to the long-cherished wish of various student groups: free Dutch language courses for foreign students. Knowledge of Du...

MAASTRICHT. The number of student buildings that are targeted by burglars is on the rise. “We are worried about this,” says student liaison officer Paul Vermin. “The months of June through to August are fairly quiet, but when the days get shorter, like now, we see an increase, just like with regular houses.” Vermin doesn&rsq...