
NETWORK NEWS COLUMN: MP Diane Abbott The Dangers of DNA Databasing Stephen L France Says…. IS UNIVERSITY STILL PRACTICAL? Celebrating Conference Success Job Seekers get Boost Through Twitter and Facebook Help for “vulnerable working students” Dianne Abbott Bend it like Birmingham Dismissed staff could soon be blacklisted Student designs computer game for the blind Building a diverse workforce Faith in church networks Banking on success Making it in Law	TV Talent Honoured Match made in Mumbai Parisa: Fashion Treats with Sabah Riaz from Sensazn Magazine ALICIA – musician on a mission Bhoothnath gets launched across social networking sites Zee Cine awards make a splash in London Rainbow Film Festival Summer of fun at the Drum, Birmingham Bollywood dance championships heat up Construction industry needs to attract more ethnic minority workers Graduate Recruitment The way forward Jump into the Graduate Talent Pool The Charity Commission: Making Good Intentions Count Bath University – Uniting Asian culture No need to hide Health Check Call to tune into student radio BBC fast tracks senior managers Interview: Take cover, it’s “the comedy assassin” Not a laughing matter Government’s £3m ethnic agency account re-think

Halle Berry fact file

With her latest film, Things we lost in a fire, currently on the big screen we thought we would fill you in on Halle’s facts...

• Halle Maria Berry was born on the 14th of August, 1968 (though some insist it was 1966), in Cleveland, Ohio.

• She was named after the town’s Halle Building, which originally housed the Halle Brothers department store but is now an office block (it’s also used in the Drew Carey Show).

• Her father, Jerome, an African American and a hospital attendant by trade, left when she was just four.

• She and her elder sister Heidi were raised by their Caucasian, Liverpool-born mother, Judith a nurse in a psychiatric ward.

• Berry was a popular student at her high school and was a cheerleader, honor society member, editor of the school newspaper, class president, and prom queen. She studied broadcast journalism at Cuyahoga Community College.

•1983, she was Miss Teen Ohio. From here she became runner-up in the Miss USA contest, a placing that saw her entered into the Miss World competition - she was the first African-American to do so.

• Berry auditioned for a role in an updated Charlie’s Angels television series by producer Aaron Spelling. At the time, Spelling wanted one of the “Angels” to be a woman of color. She did not get the role but she impressed Spelling with her skills. He encouraged her to continue perfecting her craft.

•She was the first African-American woman to win the Best Actress Oscar, in 2002