If you are a final year undergraduate, then chances are that you would have recently received an email from the Registry in regards to graduation. Upon clicking on the link they kindly ask you to proceed with, you are then told to pay a certain £40.00 fee: the so-called "graduation fee". The reasoning behind this fee is brief and by quickly checking the Registry graduation FAQ, you are told bluntly that if you do not pay, you do not graduate. For most of us who are busy with exams or final year dissertations, it’s easy not to think twice about this "fee" and simply pay up. But curiosity led me to look into this matter further: why should I pay this fee, and what does it go towards?

A glance back at Gordon Brown's column in The Student archives of 1974 reveals an early appreciation of the power of spin; he notes portentously: 'a politician's actual power is minimal...his real power is propagandist'.  Such detailed observations on the nature of politics and leadership sharpened his ambition whilst at here at university. Brown's dedication to work was perhaps surprisingly equalled by a brimming social life - the legendary parties at his Marchmont Street flat were definitely the place to be.  Furthermore, The Student in Brown's editorial hands became something of a salacious tabloid, with a gossip column to match.  Brown's recent 'outing' with Piers Morgan was more than pure spin; the dour Scot indeed has a fun side.

The legacy of December’s Copenhagen Conference will undoubtedly be felt for many months, if not years to come, with Lord Stern speaking on the BBC just this week, attributing the outcome largely to the ‘arrogance’ of the richer nations, their collective failure to understand the concerns of the developing world.That the eventual non-binding Copenhagen Accord, now signed by a mere 73 out of the nearly 200 countries present at the summit, failed to meet expectations is an established consensus.