Garcetti To Lead L.A.’s Upswing

(This article originally appeared in the May 28th, 2013 edition of the Century City News)

By Michael Douglas Carlin

This was perhaps the best election in the history of Los Angeles because we had two very capable politicians. We typically feel compromised with the “lesser of two evils” choice. We typically have no good candidate and must decide who will harm us less as the criteria for selection. I have felt this for years during almost every election at the local, state and federal levels.

But we all know both Wendy and Eric from their many visits to Century City over the years. We have grown to respect them both as public servants and we know that they both love this city. Many people were in a quandary about which of them to back for mayor. I remained officially neutral during the primary even though I was personally leaning toward Eric.

There we were with two weeks to go and the most recent poll was that Wendy was up by one point. The previous polls had showed Eric up by seven points. Wendy announced that Eric’s election campaign was “in free-fall.” It looked grim at that moment for his chances of winning. Wendy was being declared the winner without a single vote having been certified.

That is when I actually decided to not just support Eric but to volunteer my time. Both would be good for Los Angeles but I knew that one of them would be better. I reckoned that Eric had not received the support of the unions largely because he had stared them down during tough negotiations. That for me was the deciding factor. Eric will do it with poise and a smile on his face but he is going to be able to renegotiate with special interests -- all special interests -- including unions to get our budget back on track. Eric was the clear choice for mayor and the perception was that his campaign was crumbling.

But Eric wasn’t nervous -- at least he wasn’t showing it. I got invited to four Eric Garcetti events in a single week. He was out campaigning and raising money. When big endorsements like Bill Clinton and Barbara Boxer were coming to Wendy, Eric was connecting with the people. When big money was pouring into the Greuel Campaign, Eric was going to dinners, lunches, and breakfasts to raise a little money at each. He was on the phone making calls and he was texting. He was personally answering his emails. He was working non-stop to turn the momentum his way.

One political analyst told me that Wendy would have the edge in voter turnout because the unions have a machine to get out the vote. Polls showing her losing by a couple of points would easily be made up by voter turnout. But Eric had a machine of his own. I volunteered on the Saturday before Election Day in Sylmar at a motion picture catering company to make calls to get out the vote. We worked in a boiler room calling from printed sheets of registered voters. We were canvassing Los Angeles to ask voters to turn out on Election Day. I found out later that this was just one of many rooms making calls.

Eric had assembled his machine to turn out the vote. I arrived in Studio City at 9am on Election Day to make more calls. We worked until about three in the afternoon but some were planning to stay on the phones until 8pm. Each of us probably only made a few hundred calls. But when you multiply that by the number of volunteers across the city I am certain that this had an impact. Was it a game changer? We will never know.

Later that election day we arrived at the Hollywood Palladium and early returns had Wendy up by almost two points. There were lots of nervous stares in that room but as the evening wore on Wendy’s lead was in free-fall. Eric went on to win the election. He is the right person for the job and he has a vision for Los Angeles that is good for the people of this city. As Dan Schnur, Director of the USC Institute of Politics, pointed out Eric Garcetti gets to sit across the table from the unions clear of any debts- he gets to say, “Not only did you not support me but you pulled out all the stops to oppose me so we sit here today with me owing you nothing. We can work out a deal now or wait for Richard Riordan’s Ballot Initiative for Pension Reform that could be much less favorable.”

That is the mayor we need right now in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is headed for an upswing and Mayor Garcetti will lead the way. We can all work with him to bring his vision from words into deeds – from theory to reality. We can all get on board the Eric Garcetti train to a more prosperous, human rights respecting, cleaner, greener, smarter self-sufficient Los Angeles. He needs us all to get on board. There is money to be made and a legacy to honor as well as a city that constantly reinvents itself for the better.

July 1st we can all sleep well knowing that Mayor Eric Garcetti is on the job.

Everyone Should Be Able to Afford Higher Education

Weekly Address: Everyone Should Be Able to Afford Higher Education
In this week's address, with schools getting ready to open their doors again over the next few weeks, the President talked directly to students and parents about the importance of preparing for an education beyond high school.

In today's economy, some higher education continues to be the surest ticket to the middle class, but for too many families across the country, paying for higher education is a constant struggle. The President and First Lady know this first hand -- they only finished paying off their student loans 10 years ago -- and that's why they have made it a priority to help make college more affordable for families.

They have taken action to reform student loans, expand grants and college tax credits, help make loan payments more manageable, and have proposed plans to make sure colleges also do their part to bring down costs. And just this week, as part of the President's Year of Action, the administration announced a new series of commitments to support students who need a little extra academic help getting through college.
Click here to watch this week's Weekly Address.



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© 2014 Michael Douglas Carlin. All Rights Reserved.

Bet On Berg

(This article originally appeared in the February 5th, 2013 edition of the Century City News)

By Michael Douglas Carlin

There is a wind blowing through the industry… the wind of change. The landscape of the entertainment industry will be vastly different from 2012 and all of those changes are yet to be discovered. The industry itself doesn’t really know what it wants to be when it grows up… and with so many egos in the industry there is little fear the industry will ever grow up. One thing is clear there are going to be winners and losers in 2013 and everybody is prognosticating their picks to align themselves with the winning side.

One of the winds blowing through the industry is in every agency. When Jeff Berg left ICM and announced he would be starting another agency there were shivers down the spines of all entrenched in the agency business. Business affairs personnel were deployed to review contracts and shore up any vulnerabilities that might exist as Berg was anticipated to soon begin recruiting revenue streams. Now that Berg has landed squarely on his feet, he and his team are doing just that… building a mega agency from scratch with a war chest of two hundred million dollars.

But from scratch doesn’t really paint the picture. Berg and his crew have relationships spanning three decades into the farthest reaches of entertainment. At a time when overheads are being slashed throughout all of America I would not bet against the upstart that comes with virtually no overhead. Building an agency from the ground up allows them to cherry pick from the many revenue streams to select only the most desirable. They have the ability to recruit the dream team of agents in this changing landscape.

As all agency business affairs teams have ramped up the non-compete language in their contracts overheads have been going up at rival agencies as they seek to keep their revenue streams intact. Resolution arrives, lean and mean and ready to embrace the changes within the industry. Many agents out there must be thinking more long-term and really evaluating their positions. They must be thinking that a move is in their best interests and they are, no doubt, taking meetings with Berg and his team to make the move to the future.

The stranglehold once held by a handful of companies over the industry is crumbling and independents are emerging with content that consumers demand. Berg is a pipeline to get that content to the market. Celebrities will want to be on this train, filmmakers will want to be on this train, and investors wanting to tap into entertainment will want to be on this train.

I coined a phrase, “Writing with a calculator.” Every survivor in entertainment must begin writing with a calculator to match the resources they have with the budget level they can justify. Writing with a calculator will mitigate the risk in entertainment and I believe Jeff Berg’s Resolution is at the forefront of the new sensible budget format that will drive entertainment.


THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Resolution Forms in Century City

Jeffrey Berg has announced the formation of Resolution, a new full-service talent and literary agency, which has opened in Los Angeles and New York. Mr. Berg, who served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ICM for 27 years, will be the Chairman of Resolution. Entertainment entrepreneur, film and television producer and music agent Jeff Franklin, will serve as Chief Operating Officer.

“As a founding shareholder, I am delighted to partner with Najafi Companies, a strategic private investment firm in the media industry, and Jeff Franklin, a recognized agent and builder in the music business, to launch Resolution. I look forward to working with an exceptional and diverse team of talents to provide our clients with the highest level of advisory and transactional services.” Mr. Najafi will serve on Resolution’s Board of Directors along with Mr. Berg and Mr. Franklin. Jahm Najafi, CEO of Najafi Companies added, “There is no smarter, strategic and knowledgeable agent than Jeff Berg. We look forward to sharing and building this progressive agency in an evolving entertainment marketplace.”

“We are fortunate to have Jahm and his team as our financial partners,” Mr. Berg said. “They are respected and experienced investors who share our passion for the worldwide entertainment community and bring deep critical industrial insights to our company.”
Mr. Franklin added, “With new office space secured and construction completed, our focus is to now expand the recruitment of agents to create a new enduring institution in our industry. Resolution will be active in all of the critical entertainment areas: film, television, theater, music, literary publishing, digital media, and marketing consultation.”

Resolution will focus on the core functions of talent representation but will also provide a wide range of financial and advisory services including the sale of libraries and catalogues, financial transactions for media companies, raising capital for independent and studio films, providing restructuring advice and the sale and licensing of independently financed films and television series to the domestic and international markets.

“After a long run at my former company, I want to re-engage in a new business again as an owner-operator, and Jahm and Jeff became my logical partners,” Mr. Berg stated. “Resolution has a business plan that allows for internal growth, and it also has the committed capital for outside strategic acquisitions.”

The executive team will include former WME Vice President of Finance and Controller Laura Li who will become Resolution’s Chief Financial Officer; former Universal Pictures and MGM senior international marketing and distribution executive Randy Greenberg who will serve as Co-Head of Operations and Business Development; and former Universal Pictures Executive-Vice President of Business Affairs and former CEO of Intermedia Pictures Jon Gumpert will act as General Counsel and Head of Business Affairs.

Jeffrey Berg began his career in 1969 as a literary and film agent at Creative Management Associates (CMA). Following CMA’s merger with IFA, which created ICM, Berg ran the literary and motion picture department. In 1980, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer, and in 1985, he became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In 1988, Berg was part of a management team that took ICM private in a leveraged buyout financed by Chase Manhattan Bank and subsequently City National Bank. In 2005, Rizvi Traverse acquired ICM in a deal that brought in the first private equity investors to the agency business. In 2012, Mr. Berg and Rizvi Traverse sold their interest to the present ICM management group. Mr. Berg served as Co-Chairman of the California Information Technology Council. He has been a Director of Oracle Corp., since February 1997. He serves on the Board of Trustees and Board of Visitors of The Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles at UCLA. He served as a Member of the California Entertainment Commission and the President of the Executive Board of the College of Letters and Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He has also lectured on Management and Finance in the arts at The London School of Economics where he was a member of its Court of Governors. Mr. Berg has been involved in the production financing and sale of over 500 films. In 1991, he was awarded the Cavaliere Ufficiale of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. Mr. Berg holds a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Liberal Arts from the University of Southern California.

Jeff Franklin is an entertainment industry entrepreneur, film and television producer, and one of the foremost music agents in the entertainment industry. Jeff Franklin and his Agency ATI represented some of the recording industry’s most successful and honored rock and rhythm and blues artists including Neil Young, Bob Seger, ACDC, KISS, Rod Stewart, Black Sabbath, Marvin Gaye, Deep Purple, Ozzie Osborn, Yes, Beach Boys, Guns and Roses and The Eagles just to name a few. His experience extends beyond these sectors into publishing, branded entertainment, new media and music publishing. Mr. Franklin was a partner in Casablanca Records and Film Works and Mr. Franklin is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ATI, where he has served since 1970. In 1980, he sold his music business to International Creative Management (ICM), where he remained a consultant at the agency for five years following the merger. Through the formation of ATI Video, Mr. Franklin enjoyed a further successful television career, essentially creating music television with “Night Flight,” which ran on USA Network for sixteen hours a week for nine years, and an additional three years in syndication. ATI produced over 5,000 hours of the show. Mr. Franklin is considered an expert in international co-financing of filmed entertainment content.

Najafi Companies is an international private investment firm based in Phoenix, Arizona, with offices in New York, Paris, Toronto and holdings in sectors including consumer, media, technology, industrial, energy and real estate across seven countries including Columbia House, SkyMall, Direct Brands and Cinram. The Najafi Companies make highly-selective investments in companies with strong management teams across a variety of industries, often in areas undergoing rapid technological transformation. The firm takes a long-term view on its investments and focuses its efforts to create value through growth and superior performance. Najafi Companies funds its investments with internally generated capital, not through a fund. Free from the restrictions of a fund, the firm is able to move quickly and decisively when investing, and with no requirements to return capital to outside partners, Najafi Companies is able to make investments that create maximum value for the long term.

Resolution is located at 1801 Century Park East, 23rd Floor, Los Angeles CA 90067 (424) 274-4200

Convention of the States

by Glen E Terrell

We are about to repeat the same thing we've been doing for decades; re-elect 90% of incumbents to a congress fewer than 10% of us think is doing an acceptable job.  It might be laughable, but consequences of our collective behavior include continuing national decline.  What are we doing wrong?  How can we change it?

We conservatives tend to cheer when Darrell Issa, chair of the House Oversight committee calls the committee to order.  Then we're thrilled when Trey Gowdy questions a witness; "Sic 'em Gowdy."  The truth is;NEITHER Issa nor Gowdy WILL EVER call for abolishing the IRS.  Why?  Congress needs the complex income tax and evil IRS to maintain its control and dominion over us.  Income Tax + IRS = CONGRESSIONAL POWER and with it, congressional corruption.  There you have it.

Our best chance of reclaiming our country and reigning in our government is an Article V Convention of States.  Such a convention can propose amendments to the constitution which must be ratified by 3/4 the states to become part of the constitution.  Some amendments might render common congressional behavior illegal.  It's our best chance.  Go to http://conventionofstates.com/ and become part of this effort in your state.

Glen E Terrell
email: ggeett37@gmail.com

Burbank Lights Brighten Shuttle's Return

(this article appeared in the September 8th, 1983 edition of the Burbank Weekly Review) Bank of floodlights provided by Keylite Production Services Inc. of Burbank were used to illuminate the shuttle prototype Enterprise that was displayed at Edwards Air Force Base where space shuttle Challenger arrived Monday. Company's lights were also used to illuminate Challenger for television broadcast as it sat on landing strip after its first night landing.

 by Pat Wark - Staff Writer BURBANK -

The floodlit picture of space shuttle Challenger beamed to millions of television viewers worldwide was made possible by Keylite Production Services Inc. of Burbank. Lighting the shuttle as it say in the middle of the Mojave Desert after touching down in the middle of the night at Edwards Air Force Base Monday was a departure from the firm's usual work lighting up motion picture and television sets.

 "It was a first for us," admits Keylite advertising director Brian Hartley. "It was a helluva privilege. You can always make a movie but to get the chance to do something like that was really something. It was very emotional." It was the first night landing for the shuttle in the 28-month history of the program. NASA hired Keylite to light up the Challenger following the landing and it illuminate a hangar that served as the reception area for the astronauts after debriefing and medical checkups. 

Keylite also lit up a staging area where the shuttle prototype Enterprise sat on display and the NASA logo emblazoned on two other hangars. Keylite sent out three truckloads of equipment, two support vehicles and a crew of 12 Thursday to set up the cables and rigging and for briefing on what to do the day of the landing. A Hollywood extravaganza wouldn't awe the crew but watching the shuttle land did. Hartley said Keylite provided lighting for "King Kong," "Ordinary People" and the "Academy Awards."

 "It was an experience. It was a piece of history. I never would have expected tone there," said Damon doherty, who helped rig the lighting in the hangars. "It was a great feeling (to see the Challenger)." said Fred Jones, who has worked in the movie industry for nearly 24 years. "We were a part of it. It was almost like we were a part of the astronauts."

 Astronauts Richard Truly, Daniel Brandenstein, Guion Bluford, Dale Gardner and William Thornton "looked comical" when they stepped out of the ship after siex days in orbit. Jones recalled. "They were all smiling. The baled-headed guy (Thornton) was great. He was flapping his arms." Jones sat in a Keylite truck a half mile away from the landing site waiting for Challenger to appear in the sky. When the shuttle rolled to a stop and a convoy of 30 NASA vehicles drove out to greet the astronauts and check them over.

His job was to light up the shuttle so NASA and television film crews could record the event. The five fliers, smiling and waving, climbed down the steps from Challenger's cabin at 4:14a.m. They shook hands with NASA officials, inspected the ship briefly and drove off in a van for a quick medical check. Three and a half hours after landing, the astronauts met 1,200 cheering well-wishers gathered in a hangar lit up by Keylite. Truly, the veteran commander of the mission said he expects night flights to become routine now that the shuttle has demonstrated it can land in the dark well as in daylight.

Airstrikes Continue Against ISIL Near Mosul Dam

From a U.S. Central Command News Release

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2014 - U.S. Central Command forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Iraq today near the Mosul Dam using a mix of fighter, bomber, attack and remotely piloted aircraft.

Centcom conducted these strikes under authority to support humanitarian efforts in Iraq, as well as to protect critical infrastructure, U.S. personnel and facilities, and support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish defense forces who are working together to combat ISIL.

The 14 strikes conducted on Sunday in Iraq damaged or destroyed ten ISIL armed vehicles, seven ISIL Humvees, two ISIL armored personnel carriers and one ISIL checkpoint. These strikes are in addition to the nine U.S. airstrikes announced yesterday by Centcom.

All aircraft exited the strike areas safely.

NASA’s Chandra Observatory Searches for Trigger of Nearby Supernova

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is helping determine what caused SN 2014J, one of the closest supernovas discovered in decades. By comparing X-ray data taken before and after the stellar explosion, scientists can learn more about what set it off.

Image Credit: 

NASA/SAO/CXC/R. Margutti et al

New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory offer a glimpse into the environment of a star before it exploded earlier this year, and insight into what triggered one of the closest supernovas witnessed in decades.

The data gathered on the Jan. 21 explosion, a Type Ia supernova, allowed scientists to rule out one possible cause. These supernovas may be triggered when a white dwarf takes on too much mass from its companion star, immersing it in a cloud of gas that produces a significant source of X-rays after the explosion.

Astronomers used NASA's Swift and Chandra telescopes to search the nearby Messier 82 galaxy, the location of the explosion, for such an X-ray source. However, no source was found, revealing the region around the site of the supernova is relatively devoid of material.

"While it may sound a bit odd, we actually learned a great deal about this supernova by detecting absolutely nothing," said Raffaella Margutti of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who led the study. "Now we can essentially rule out that the explosion was caused by a white dwarf continuously pulling material from a companion star."

This supernova, SN 2014J, could instead have been caused by the merger of two white dwarf stars, an event that should result in little or no X-rays after the explosion. Further observations could rule out or confirm other possible triggers.

"Being able to eliminate one of the main possible explanations for what caused SN 2014J to explode is a big step," said CfA's Atish Kamble, a co-author of the study. "The next step is to narrow things down even further."

Type Ia supernovas are used as cosmic distance-markers, and have played a key role in the discovery of the universe's accelerated expansion. At about 12 million light-years from Earth, SN 2014J and its host galaxy are close -- from a cosmic perspective. This offers scientists a chance to observe details that would be too hard to detect in more distant supernovas.

"It's crucial that we understand exactly how these stars explode because so much is riding on our observations of them for cosmology," said co-author Jerod Parrent also from CfA. "SN 2014J might be a chance of a lifetime to study one of these supernovas in detail as it happens."

The study of SN 2014J is similar to a study led by Margutti about another supernova, SN 2011fe, in the nearby galaxy M101.

This study was conducted by CfA's Supernova Forensics Team, led by Alicia Soderberg. The results were published online and in the July 20 print issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.

For an additional interactive image, podcast, and video on the findings, visit:

http://chandra.si.edu

For a preprint of the study results in The Astrophysical Journal, visit:

http://arxiv.org/abs/1405.1488

For Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

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© 2014 Michael Douglas Carlin. All Rights Reserved.

NGVAmerica Launches New and Expanded Website

 
NGVAmerica is proud to announce the launch of a new website with improved and expanded features.  NGVAmerica.org has been redesigned to provide users easy access to the most in-depth and up-to-date information on the natural gas vehicle industry.
 
The homepage features a navigation bar and drop-down menu with a new Stations section that provides current station counts and analysis, as well as detailed pages covering CNG and LNG station design, construction and economics.  In addition, the Vehicles section now contains content covering the consumer, fleet and high-horsepower market segments.
 
NGVAmerica members continue to enjoy a number of exclusive online benefits, including access to the NGV Policy Portal, station and infrastructure analysis, and the new NGVAmerica Jobs Board.  The NGVAmerica Jobs Board, which is featured as a button on the homepage, allows members to post open positions and receive exposure on one of the most highly ranked NGV websites online.  NGVAmerica members are also featured in the online Business Directory, the only comprehensive company directory for the NGV industry.
 
"The new NGVAmerica website provides our members, as well as the general public, access to the most comprehensive and up-to-date information available," said Rich Kolodziej, President of NGVAmerica,  "Our website is an important way in which we continue to serve as the national voice of the NGV industry."
 
 
About NGVAmerica
NGVAmerica is a national organization dedicated to the development of a growing, profitable, and sustainable market
for vehicles powered by natural gas or biomethane. NGVAmerica represents more than 200 companies, environmental groups, and government organizations interested in the promotion and use of natural gas and biomethane as transportation fuels. Our member companies are those that produce, distribute, and market natural gas and biomethane across the country; manufacture and service natural gas vehicles, engines, and equipment; and operate fleets powered by clean-burning gaseous fuels. For more information about NGVAmerica, visit www.ngvamerica.org.

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PACIFIC TALENT ACADEMY OF THE ARTS (PTAA) Presents WEEKEND IN POLYNESIA

Bringing the South Pacific Islands Together with a Polynesian Festival/ Ho'olaulea, Tahitian Solo Dance Competition and the Largest Fireknife Dance Competition in North America.
Long Beach, CA - September 2014 - We are happy to announce our Weekend in Polynesia Event to be held on September 6 & 7 at Recreation Park 4900 East 7th Street, Long Beach,  CA sponsored by Pacific Talent Academy of the Arts (PTAA).
 For the past 11 years Pacific Talent Academy of the Arts has hosted the Largest Fire Knife Dance Competition in North America, bringing the best of Fire Knife Dancers from around the world. Preserving the legacy of the late Paramount Chief Olo Misilagi Letuli – the Father of the Fire Knife Dance who so loved his Polynesian entertainment.
 This year in the spirit of Fa'aitoito, which translates as "Keep the motivation and never give up" Pacific Talent Academy of the Arts continue to add to the festivities of their weekend. Our action packed weekend will include Tahitian Ori & Fire knife Dance Competitions, Hula exhibitions and more. Our weekend will bring you the "best of the best dancers" in the Polynesian community. All our festivities truly support our mantra of "raising the bar and fueling the passions of our NAHOPI People (Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders).
As in previous years, our competition will also have a Ho'olaulea' – Festival atmosphere featuring vendors selling island treasures giving our visitors a chance to shop until they drop.

The schedule for the weekend is:
 
Saturday – September 6, 2014

Opening Ceremony at 9 am
ITO Tahitian Ori Solo Dance Competition beings at 9 am 
Non-stop entertainment  and hula exhibitions from Polynesian dance groups from around the world.
Fire knife Dance Competition begins at dusk around 6:30 pm
Hula exhibition and other to perform between competitions
Sunday – September 6, 2014

Sunday Morning Praise and Worship Service 8:30 am
ITO International Tahitian Ori Solo Dance Competition Finals begin at 10 am Awards Ceremony immediately following the break
Non-stop entertainment  and hula exhibitions from Polynesian dance groups from around the world.
Fire knife Dance Competition begins at dusk around 6:30 pm
Awards ceremony immediately following the competition




 
Thank you, Mahalo, Fa'afetai and Mauruuru Roa in advance for your participation in this exciting 2 - day event.     If you would like more information about this event, need ticket information or to schedule an interview please contact Tui Letuli at 310-294-3841.
Please refer to www.weekendinpolynesia.com for more in depth details of our event.

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St Andrews top in UK for teaching and academic quality

The University of St Andrews is one of the top three universities in the United Kingdom for teaching and the quality of the academic experience it offers students, according to the results of the National Student Survey published today (Tuesday 12 August 2014).

St Andrews is the leading multi-faculty university in Scotland and joint top in the United Kingdom in the 2014 NSS.

It is the ninth year in succession that St Andrews has performed strongly in the annual measure of how satisfied students are with the quality of their higher education experience.

St Andrews is up one place on last year's survey and shares first place with the University of Bath and the University of Keele.

With 93% of students studying at St Andrews declaring themselves satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of their university education, the Fife institution is ahead of Cambridge and Oxford (joint 6th). The University of Glasgow (also joint 6th) is the only other Scottish university in the UK top ten.

Five St Andrews subjects – Computer Science, Geography, Biology, Anthropology and Divinity – achieved satisfaction levels of 100%.

The survey compilers canvassed the opinions of around 265,000 final-year students at Higher Education Institutions across the UK. Students were asked to respond to over twenty questions on topics such as teaching, personal development, assessment and feedback, learning resources and the management of their University.

St Andrews students gave the University high marks for course teaching, the organisation and management of their university and academic support.

St Andrews Vice-Principal and Proctor, Professor Lorna Milne, said: "If St Andrews students are among the most satisfied in the country, it's really down to two things: our superb staff, who work very hard to provide the best education they possibly can; and the students themselves, who clearly appreciate being challenged to achieve excellent results. I'm delighted that they have rated their University so highly once again."

Pat Mathewson, President of the St Andrews Students' Association, said: "These results stand as an ongoing testament to the sense of community we share here in St Andrews, and the extraordinary dedication of countless individuals towards enhancing the student experience.  It is these tireless efforts that make us much more than an ancient seat of leaning, but a home for our students."

The NSS 2013 also rated individual subjects at universities for student satisfaction. St Andrews was number one in the UK for Biology, Computer Science, Anthropology, Human and Social Geography, African and Middle Eastern studies and Divinity.

Medicine, Physics, Maths, International Relations, Management, French and History at St Andrews were all placed in the top 10.

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