[HDNG]INTRODUCTION:[EHDNG][PARA][BULL] Formerly Leicester Polytechnic[EBOLD][PARA][BOLD]For general information about Leicester:[EBOLD] see [ULNE]Leicester University[EULNE]. The name commemorates Simon De Montfort - an [ITAL]allegedly anti-semitic [EITAL]13th century local earl and army pimp who led the baronial revolt against Henry III, ate babies and killed his sister's pet rabbit. Or something like that. [ITAL]Still, it could have been worse - Lady Thatcher University, for example. [EITAL]The main site is in the [ITAL]trendy [EITAL]part of Leicester near the city centre and [ITAL]it can't be said to be attractive[EITAL] (maybe it's getting its own back on ole Simon De M). It mainly consists of [ITAL]offensively obvious[EITAL] concrete blocks, but [ITAL]the Union Building adds brutal insult to injury - a long low affair covered in mud grey roofing-type material. Inside the buildings, it's pretty shabby too, but disguised by the hoards of students.[EITAL] Other sites are almost entirely self-contained with some level of their own services. The [ITAL]nicest looking[EITAL] is the wood-rimmed Scraptoft site, 6 miles from the main campus and a little way out of town - [ITAL]an inconvenient distance from anywhere and a bit of a poor cousin[EITAL]. The newest site, which only opened in 1991, is 44 miles south at Milton Keynes. [ITAL]All the jokes about 'MK' are true - more of a space station than a town, its greatest asset is one of the largest multiplex cinemas in the country.[EITAL][PARA][PARA][ITAL][HDNG]ATMOSPHERE:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA][ITAL]There are a large number of middle and upper class students (including many locals) who are bright enough, but who've never had to work too hard before. Suddenly it has dawned on them that jobs are the root of all money and a degree is good for getting one of them and, as a result, they've become rather more motivated towards studying than saving whales, whatever the bizarre aquatic cinema ads (with Tony Hawks voiceovers) might indicate. Although each campus is distinct, they're not enormously different except that there's much more to do at the main site. Whatever the site, students tend to favour the grunge look.[EITAL][HDNG]THE SITES:[EHDNG][PARA][BOLD]City Centre:[EBOLD] Houses most courses and student services [ITAL]as well as being the most conveniently positioned for the laughs and larks of Leicester.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Scraptoft:[EBOLD] (health and life sciences, performing arts, education, public policy and managerial studies, public administration) A large and [ITAL]spacious [EITAL]campus, with [ITAL]lovely [EITAL]18th century buildings, but only home to about 1,200 students. It has [ITAL]limited [EITAL]services, some accommodation and [ITAL]poor ents[EITAL]. There's a University bus that runs between this and the city centre site every 1/2 hour all day - the traffic is all one way into town.[PARA][BOLD]Milton Keynes (MK):[EBOLD] (business, computing, architecture, land management, social work, engineering) 2,500 students are now based here, 4 miles from the centre of MK, but building is still going on and the long-term target is to attract 8,000 students to a largely independent college. SU Bar, accommodation for 340 students in self-catering halls.[PARA]Offshoots are also sprouting in Bedford and Lincolnshire.[HDNG]THE CITY:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Population: 270,660 [BULL] London: 98miles [BULL] Birmingham: 33miles [BULL] Nottingham: 21miles[ESTAT][PARA][ITAL]Leicester is large enough to have all the local amenities that a student grant can bear, yet small enough to have some kind of homeliness[EITAL]. Apart from the 700-year old market place, local highlights include a bookshop on Market St, the largest open-air market in Europe (for clothes, fruit and veg, fish and so on), the 2nd hand clothes stalls in Silver Arcade, Malcolm Arcade and Silver St, and Gary Lineker's dad's fruit stall. A more touristy tour takes in the Newarke House Museum, the City Museum and Art Gallery, Snibston Discovery Park and Rutland Water (very popular with students in Summer). There's a large Asian population, [ITAL]adding further variety to the culinary and sartorial availables[EITAL]. [ITAL]Leicester may not be the hottest night spot in the land[EITAL], but Birmingham and London are close enough for day trips.[HDNG]TRAVEL:[EHDNG][PARA][BOLD]Trains:[EBOLD] Leicester BR Station, 3/4 mile from the campus, operates many services direct all over the Midlands and the rest of the country, including London (1:11hrs, 2/hr), Birmingham, Bristol and Edinburgh.[PARA][BOLD]Coaches:[EBOLD] National Express and other services to London (ú10.75, 2:10hrs, 9/day), Manchester (ú10.75, 3:05hrs, 3/day), Birmingham (ú3.40, 1hr, every 2hrs) and elsewhere.[PARA][BOLD]Car:[EBOLD] The M1 skirts the edge of Leicester and the M69 connects with the A5 from the city's outskirts. Also, the A6, A46, A47, A50 and A607.[PARA][BOLD]Air:[EBOLD] Flights from East Midlands Airport (16 miles away) inland and to Europe.[PARA][BOLD]Hitching:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Excellent [EITAL]for London or Birmingham. Catch a bus out to near the M1 or M69 motorway junctions.[PARA][BOLD]Local:[EBOLD] Buses are [ITAL]reliable, well used[EITAL] and run until 11pm. From the city centre to the halls at Oadby costs 55p.[PARA][BOLD]Taxis:[EBOLD] Taxis are [ITAL]cheap enough[EITAL] to persuade the Union to negotiate with a local firm to get a rank outside the Union Building. (ú2 to station, but ú4 to the halls).[PARA][BOLD]Bicycles:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Leicester, 'Britain's First Environmental City', is steadily introducing cycle ways and there are racks on campus. Theft is a problem, though.[EITAL][PARA][PARA][ITAL][HDNG]LIBRARIES and COMPUTERS:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA][ITAL][STAT][BULL] Books: 250,000[ESTAT][EITAL][PARA]There is 1 library on each site, the largest being the smart new Kimberlin Library at the city site. MK has very few books, but students can use the library at the headquarters of the [ULNE]Open University[EULNE]. Each department has its own computer network with a jungle of Amstrads, Olivettis and IBM Apollos. There is 24 hour computer accessibility at MK.[HDNG]CAREER PROSPECTS:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Careers Service [BULL] No of staff: 5full/4part [BULL] Unemployed after 6mths (1992): 12%[ESTAT][HDNG]SPECIAL FEATURES:[EHDNG][PARA][BULL]To get access to the University facilities SU cards have to be worn at all times.[PARA][BULL]There's a spanking new Engineering Building, [ITAL]for spanking new engineers[EITAL].[PARA][BULL]The University's taken to adverstising itself in cinemas by a subtle ad involving whales, seals and no students.[HDNG]FAMOUS ALUMNI:[EHDNG][PARA]Charles Dance (actor); Justin Chadwick (actor); Richard Packwood (Wildlife Photographer); Janet Reger ([ITAL]nice knicks[EITAL]); Liz Tilberis (Editor, 'Vogue').[HDNG]FURTHER INFO:[EHDNG][PARA]Prospectuses for undergrads, postgrads and American students (and we thought they spoke English). Also a prospectus for the Milton Keynes site.[PARA][PARA]
