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December 18, 2025
October 1987
Welcome back to the University of Edinburgh campus for a new academic year, 1987/1988! This first month of the term saw Student with lots to report, from Freshers Week, political campaigns, and some important changes to the University structure….Read all about it below!
7 October 1987: Freshers Week Excitement and A Scary Prospect for Professors….
This first issue of the 1987/1988 academic year was made free to all students, and includes some indispensable advice to freshers, from good study habits and how to make friends, to the best clubs and coffee shops in town!
Student reports that professors are fearing for their job stability, as a new education bill threatens tenure and pension schemes.
15 October 1987: High NUS Fees and A Scrapped Department on Campus
According to Student this week, fourteen student unions across Scotland and the UK may be forced to unaffiliated themselves from the Nation Union of Students (NUS) due to their hiking of membership fees.
The University of Edinburgh has reported closed it s Department of Urban Design and Regional Planning, and has forced all students of this school to be relocated to Heriot-Watt University.
22 October 1987: Students in the Military for Charity, and A New Campaign on Campus
The Student Aid Society reportedly held an assault course open to all students, in which more than 200 student participated to raise money for charities, despite the Army course being rife with danger.
The Scottish Campaign for Resistance Against Poll Tax, also known as the “SCRAP It!” campaign has been formally ratified by the Students’ Association to exist on campus, due to widespread student support.
29 October, 1987: Anti-Apartheid Action and Exam Feedback Gains
University of Edinburgh students travelled to London to take part in the nationally-organised anti-Apartheid march in Hyde Park.
Student announces the exciting news that students will now be able to see their examination papers after receiving their marks, a right which has never been afforded students at any level of the University in the past.
May 1987
7 May, 1987: Rag Week Festivities and Outrages Rent Hikes
Rag Week 1987 was celebrated with parade floats, crazy costumes, and lots of money raised for various charities at University of Edinburgh this week.
Next academic year’s rent for the University’s only catered accommodation, Pollock Halls, was announced this week, and it has seen a hike of more than 7%, causing outrage among students.
14 May, 1987: Conservative Club Corruption and Election Excitement
Student reported on what some are believing is electoral malpractice on the part of the Conservative Club on campus, with the illustrious society being accused of doctoring their constitution, embezzling funds, and more!
Today the polls also opened for the 1987/1988 EUSA Election candidates. They waited with baited breath to see who would be chosen for the roles for the next academic year…
21 May, 1987: Election Results and A Banned Magazine on Campus!
Student announces the winners of the EUSA Election, with sabbatical officers and SRC representatives being chosen for the 1987/1988 academic year.
The University Newsline, a magazine published by west-coast students and graduates was banned on many Scottish University campuses for it extreme right wing views and allegedly offensive content. However this week Student reports that copies of the magazine are being distributed across campus by an unknown source, cause outrage among students!
April 1987
Returning from the 1987 Easter Holidays, Student reports on the EUSA Elections, AIDS research breakthroughs and some great theatre! Read more below….
23 April, 1987: Cuts to EUSA on the Eve of Elections!
EUSA nominations opened for the Students’ Association elections on this day, however only five were featured in Student‘s preliminary coverage.
The Students’ Association could face up to £20,000 in cuts, Student reports this week.
30 April, 1987: AIDS Research Breakthroughs and Tennessee Williams Plays…
AIDS is said to be quickly spreading in the outer Lothian areas and Edinburgh, with a link being found between AIDs contraction and Heroine use.
The Glass Menagerie rose its curtains at the Lyceum and received a rave review from Student critics’ this week.
February 1987
This month’s Student editions contain exciting content, from Days of Action and grant raises, to toilet seat trophies and illegal bovine exploits! Dive in to the February 1987 issues of Student below….
5 February, 1987: Grant Gains and Debate Success
Front page on this week’s Student is the announcement that the then-Secretary of Education Kenneth Baker and Scottish Secretary Malcolm Rifkind had decided to raise student grants by 3.75% from the previous academic year.
The Edinburgh University Debates Committee won the Maiden Speakers Championship at Aberdeen this week, a competition named “The Bogwell” due to the fact that the trophy for the winning team is a wooden toilet seat.
12 February, 1987: Students and Politicians Take Action
The Students’ Association organised a day of action this week, which they told Student reporters was “our chance to show we think education is important.” Students occupied the New College campus and other University buildings on this day of action.
Edinburgh has filed a bid to host the 1991 World Student Games, a move which then-Labour councillor Mark Lazorwiz claimed had cross party support; however Councillor Donald Gorrie contested this, according to Student reporters, saying the bid was a “megalomaniac act.”
19 February, 1987: Success for EUSA, but not for the SU…
After last week’s Day of Action, this week Student reports that the Students’ Association officials who helped organise the event were heralding it a great success.
According to Student, Edinburgh’s bid to host the 1997 World Student Games ended in failure this week, with Sheffield holding the winning bid.
26 February, 1987: Modernising the Library and Tipping Over Cows
The University announces that it will be computerising the entire book loaning system at the Main Library, to become effective on the 1st of June 1987. University personnel heralded this as a great new scheme to make both students and librarians lives’ easier in the long run, as paper borrowing and recall slips would no longer have to be used to access library books.
Student reports on a rising craze across rural Scottish, English and Welsh campuses, known as beef bouncing. This activity is apparently an American import started by American football players, but has become the main activity of secret campus societies in the UK as well. The activity consists of members trespassing on farmer’s fields at night and trying to knock over sleeping cows, who sleep standing up.
January 1987
No Condoms, Alcohol, or Principals: The New Year finds the University making new appointments, hosting more boycotts, and experiencing more shortages! Read more below….
15 January, 1987: New Year, New Uni!
- Student reports that the University will soon welcome a new Principal in the new year, with Professor Sir John Burnett being replaced with Professor Sir David Smith, who was previously a department head at the University of Oxford.
- The World Debating Championships were hosted by University College Dublin this year, with the University of Edinburgh advancing as far as the semi finals, a significant accomplishment. However it was Glasgow University which ultimately won the title of World Champions, against the stiff competition of Swarthmore College, University of Sydney, and Cambridge University.
- Potterrow gets a makeover with a new dance floor and lighting system, which debuted this week. EUSA officials are hoping this new look will help spike popularity for the club nights hosted in building on Saturday nights, now in the 21st century known as “The Big Cheese.”
22 January, 1987: Condom and Alcohol shortages for EUSA!
- The Chamber’s Street University Building, previously used by EUSA but which now is home to the Estates Office, lost its late-night drinking license due to noise complaints from the surrounding residences.
- AUT threaten to boycott marking exam papers, if their demands for better pay for lecturers are not met by the Education Board. Student reports that there is great fear among students that they may graduate from University without a degree, due to their exams not being marked.
- The Edinburgh University Liberal Club sent a strongly worded letter to EUSA this week, expressing their “horror” that there seemed to be a shortage of “jumbo strength” condoms in all EUSA venues where such things are provided via toilet-located vending machines.
29 January, 1987: Mandela for President!
- The Student Representative Council passed a motion last week approving the appointment of Nelson Mandela as Honorary President of EUSA, however some believe this may not be allowed, given that the EUSA rules state an Honorary President may only be appointed if “significant contribution to the University students” is made by the appointed individual.
- Student pledges to attach a free condom to every Midweek issue in the forthcoming week as part of a campaign to raise awareness of protection against AIDS
- Edinburgh Nightline Society were granted two rooms in Pleasance to operate all night as “walk-in centres” to aid the society’s goal of providing all-night anonymous counselling to University of Edinburgh students.
December 1986
Political controversies and classic ’80’s musicians take Edinburgh by storm in the first week of December, as students prepare for exams and the holidays. Read more below!
4 December, 1986: Loans, AIDS, and Rock n’ Roll
- Student Editors encourage more members of the University community to get involved with the anti-loans scheme protests happening around campus in this week’s editorial, which claims the previous week’s ‘Week of Action’ was more a “week of inaction.”
- Letter writers to Student this week expressed mixed opinions on Student’s article about the AIDS epidemic in the previous issue, read more on page 5.
- Van Morrison and Alice Cooper both preformed at the Playhouse this week, with Student publishing mixed reviews on their performances. While Alice Cooper was lauded as a “master of stagecraft,” Van Morrison was described as looking “fat, old, and rather bald” by critic Blaise Drummond.
- The Eurhythmics played in Glasgow with a rave review published by Student critic Colin Hancock, who compared the concert to an act of worship,” and called the music fervour of the performance “searing,” “unrelenting,” and “refreshing.”
Read the full issue here
November 1986
The November 1986 issues of Student are now live! Read on to see lots of student political debates, great theatre reviews and much more!
6 November, 1986: Sexist Bands and Unhappy Students…
- Student reports that the UK Government may subsidise the Thatcher-era Poll Tax of £200 a year per individual, to only £40 a year. While some saw this as positive, others said they would not be satisfied until the entire idea of a Poll Tax, or “Community Charge,” was abolished.
- University of Edinburgh hosted a conference called “AIDS: The Public Health Challenge” where Edinburgh’s delegates criticise what they considered “inadequate government spending” on the support of AIDS victims.
- Page 5 of Student this week covers various people’s reactions to an incident at the Playhouse, where band The Stranglers “suggested” that female members of the audience who undressed themselves would have a better chance at winning the prize of the band’s new LP. While Student writer and editors held to their stance that this should be considered sexual exploitation, many penned letter complaining that Student was misinterpreting or misrepresenting the situation….
13 November, 1986: Shakespeare Slumps Across Edinburgh!
- Shakespeare’s plays Macbeth and Othello both made appearances in Edinburgh this week, with a classic Elizabethan performance of Macbeth preformed by the Royal Lyceum, while the operatic interpretation of Othello (Otello) was live streamed at the ABC Theatre in cinema format. However, both received lack-lustre reviews from Student critics Colin Hancock and Briony Sergeant, respectively.
- The Student Representative Committee (SRC) of the Students’ Association drafter a policy of zero support for any type of student loan policy and wholeheartedly endorsed a return to the mandatory student grants system.
- A professor from the Academy of Sciences in Moscow gave a talk on “Soviet Philosophy Today,” hosted by the EU Philosophy Society. However apparently both the majority of students in attendance, as well as the moderator, asked questions and made comments which were strongly western biased, according to correspondent Alaric Searle, leaving the professor insulted and unlikely to visit the University of Edinburgh in future.
20 November, 1986: Flour Girls and Marshmallow Journalists!
- A first year Art student was handcuffed to the doors of the library while covered from head to foot in flour, and stayed there in silence until she had to be sawed free by the University Works Department who were called to the scene. The girl revealed nothing about her actions, except to verify that she had not been pranked against her will, but was preforming a “private gesture” of protest. However no one was able to find out what she was protesting, and it seems that no one but she knows to this day!
- Chief Political Correspondent for The Guardian, James Naughtie, spoke to a University of Edinburgh audience for the 1986 Kenneth Allsop Memorial Lecture in David Hume Tower. Naughtie was reported by Student writer Emma Simpson to have said that then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher couldn’t see a public institution “without hitting it in the head with her handbag,” and to say that the daytime programmes of the BBC which claim to report news are of “the marshmallow type,” being “both metaphorically and physically cheap.”
27 November, 1986: Privatising EUSA?
- The General Meeting of the Students’ Association was particularly controversial this month due to the allocation of £250,000 of the budget to purchasing shares in British Gas. Many students expressed their lack of support for this motion, including Deputy President of EUSA, Claire McLintock.
- Student publishes a scathing review of the just-opened movie Labyrinth, still famous today for its David Bowie cameo, Terry Jones scrip, Jim Henson puppetry, and overall psychedelic, supernatural ethos. However, critic Mark White was not impressed.
- Music writer Keith Cameron pens a full page spread on analysing the fame, fortune and entity that is Madonna. Turn to page 13 to read!
Featured: October 1986
The October 1986 issues of Student are now live! Read on to explore the wonders of fresher’s week in 1986, and the exciting first month of the ’86/’87 academic year…
2 October, 1986: Freshers’ Advice and Freshers’ Confessions!
- In this special Fresher’s addition to ring in a new academic year, Student gives advice to incoming students on how best to manage their finances, how to make new friends, where the best spots around campus are, and much more.
- This week the arts section of the paper reviews the best theatre venues, cinemas, orchestras, music halls, and galleries, so that the incoming fresher will know exactly where to satiate their artistic cravings.
- Student includes a new feature in this issue, known as the ‘True Confessions’ page. This humorous addition pokes fun at the highly varied experiences of first years during fresher’s week.
9 October, 1986: Loans and Taxes and Fees, Oh My!
- Front page news this week is the accommodation shortage which undergraduates at the University faced during the first week of the 1986/1987 academic year. According to the article, approximately 80 first years were having to be housed in temporary accommodation until the University Accommodation Service could find them permanent residences.
- The University Students’ Association made the decision this week to oppose the current Government’s proposal of a mixed grant and loan system for UK citizens seeking higher education, however the Principals of the University came out in support of the system proposal this very same week.
- Over the summer, Kings Buildings’ Union refurbished their kitchen and café premises in order to cater a more enjoyable selection of snacks and meals. Student reviewed the new set-up, saying that the coffee was excellent and the food was the best for its value at the University.
16 October 1986: Too Soft, Too Hard, or Just Right?
- The Federation of Conservative Students published a report condemning the size of student beds in catered halls. They claim that the beds are too narrow, and not conducive to a healthy student lifestyle, saying that the layout of student halls are “administratively convenient” without taking into account student health and safety.
- To the relief of Students’ Association representatives, it was reported this week that the Principals of the University decided to rescind their support of the newly-Government-proposed system of loans for higher education students.
- The Anti-Apartheid Society (AAS) on campus has filed an official dispute on the legality of the Scottish South African Union Society (SSAU) existing on campus. The AAS claimed that the SSAU’s support of apartheid was in direct negation of the Students’ Association’s anti-apartheid stance, and presented their case at the Societies Executive Meeting, where their proposal will be deliberated.
23 October 1986: A Derogatory Duke?
- The Duke of Edinburgh, and Chancellor the University, HRM Prince Phillip, was criticised in Student this week for making insulting and bigoted comments to students upon his return from a state visit to Peking, China. He allegedly called the city “ghastly,” and said that he expected to arrive home with “slitty eyes,” to the anger and offence of many Chinese students and the University community.
- The Commonwealth Games Fund, which was charged £900,000 to use Pollock Halls as the Games Village over the summer of 1986, was found to be at risk of liquidation, with £650,000 still owed to the University Information and Accommodation Department.
- Upon the announcement that all Bus transport would be privatised in Britain, students protest the possibility of raised fees, changing routes, commercialisation, and profiteering of Edinburgh’s main form of public transport.
30 October 1986: Iron Maiden Rock Out at The Playhouse!
- Acclaimed heavy-metal band Iron Maiden preformed at the Playhouse in Edinburgh this week, putting on a show which garnered a rave review from Student’s music critics. “If there is a better live band on the planet I’d like to see them. From start to finish this show was a fireball of energy, power and class,” writes Ted Linehan.
- The University contemplates taking action to combat the increasing amount of book theft and vandalism committed by students in the Main Library, according to Student this week. Apparently the Library staff have submitted a proposal to outfit the library with a significant amount of security cameras, which the University administration is currently considering.
- The EUSA poll on how students feel about different grant and loan systems was published, and it shows that students the University strongly favour grants over loans, in contest with the Government’s proposed plans to switch from a grant-based system to a loan-based one. 81 per cent of students voted for a grant scheme which was either denoted by family income, or on a universal subsidy, while 19 of students voted for either a loan only, or mixed grant and loan scheme.
May 1986
The May 1986 issues of Student are now live! Hundreds of students stood for the EUSA elections, writers and photographers for Student were awarded for their hard work, and Edinburgh’s athletes had a day of fun in the sun to end the academic year of 1985/1986! Read more below…
1 May 1986: EUSA Elections and Sports Union Field Day
- Polls close for the annual EUSA elections, with over 90 posts available and hundreds of students standing for different posts; from the local positions, such as accommodation area, societies, and school convenors, to University-wide sabbatical positions such as President, Deputy President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
- Student Housing costs are hiked for the coming academic year, leading to student protests. Pollock Halls raises their prices from £29.65 to £31.65 ppm, and self-catered accommodation goes from £17.69 to £18.88 ppm.
- The University hosts its annual Sports Day for all students at the Peffermill Fields, still the home of many University of Edinburgh’s sports teams, clubs, and societies.
Read the full issue
15 May 1986: Accolades and Inaugurations Round Out the Academic Year
- Student politicians are elected into office for the academic year of 1986/1987
- Student officials were forced to remove a band from Aberdeen mid-set in Potterrow, after their performance included a multitude of racist and sexist jokes which enraged the crowd.
- Student won the Glasgow Herald Student Publication Press Award for the second consecutive year, with David Yarrow, Photographic Editor for Student, winning an award for being ‘the best young photographer in Scotland.’
Read the full issue
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