Post-Secondary News Digest for October 26, 2009
Canada
Students think environmentally when choosing a school:
(Toronto Star) Students are looking at how environmentally conscious universities are before making decisions. This is according to the study by Sustainable Endowment Institute that hands out the sustainability report cards to universities. Mark Orlowski, the executive director said, “More and more students are weighing sustainability as an important factor in their college or university choice.” The goal of the report cards is to promote green policies at universities.
University education will cost $137K for today’s babies:
(The Globe and Mail) New parents better tighten their belts if they want their kids to go to university. According to a report by Toronto Dominion Bank Financial Group, a four-year university program will cost $137,013 in 18 years. The TD study forecasts that students will pay more than $64,000 in academic fees and more than $72,000 in living expenses. The study is based on the annual inflation rate of 2.9 per cent.
Saskatoon chemistry student off the hook:
(CBC) The charges against a University of Saskatoon chemistry student were dropped two weeks ago. Lewis Casey, 19, was accused of running an explosives lab out of his parents’ garage and was charged with producing methamphetamines. Casey’s lawyer, Nick Stooshinoff said, “the whole police investigation was blown enormously out of proportion.” Casey had simply been using the chemicals for experiments for school. Casey came to a plea deal with the Crown for non-criminal charges and won’t have a criminal record.
Chinese students boost CBU’s enrolment:
(CBC) The number of Cape Breton students enrolled at Cape Breton University is down 15 per cent but overall enrolment is up three per cent. This is because the number of Chinese students is up 26 per cent at the school. CBU and schools in China have had an agreement over the past five years. Foreign students help CBU since they pay nearly double what Canadians pay.
Canadian universities resisting open-access research:
(Toronto Star) It’s International Open Access Week and universities around the world are promoting the growing trend of open access research and publicly funded research available to taxpayers. Canadian universities are resisting it, despite the fact that they benefit from more public money than many of their U.S. counterparts. Open access is popular because it opens up new ideas to the public and global community.
Mount Royal anti-smoking project gets help from Ottawa:
(CBC) Calgary’s Mount Royal University is getting $114,770 from Health Canada to help with its new anti-smoking campaign. The new program aims to educate students and faculty, and have on-campus interventions to help people quit smoking. About 3,000 students at the university smoke. The project hopes to reduce that number by 3.8 per cent in the next year. Tobacco Free @ MRU uses graphic material to turn people off smoking.
Online courses often pricier for students:
(eSchool News) Online courses can be more than US$1,300 at some schools, according to a new survey, which claims that Internet-based education is often more expensive than attending classes on campus because of registration fees and charges for technical support. Nearly half of the 182 institutions surveyed by the California-based Campus Computing Project said their online students are paying more for a college education than traditional students.
U.S.
Florida Med School offers free tuition:
(CNN) One of the U.S.’s newest medical schools at the University of Central Florida is offering free tuition for its entire inaugural class. Forty students at the school received full scholarships for the four-year program, costing the school a total of US$7 million. The scholarships are being paid entirely by contributions from community members, ranging from individuals, to banks and hospitals. A goal is to address the shortage of primary-care doctors.
Gates seeks educational reform:
(MSNBC) The foundation headed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates is offering states $250,000 to apply for U.S. federal grants if they agree with his stand on educational reform. The ideas include paying teachers based on student test scores and the creation of charter schools that operate independently of local school boards. Gates is looking to influence policy, specifically how the federal government distributes the US$5 billion in grant funds that are being used to reconfigure the sagging public school system.
Cornerback went to UConn for ‘better life’:
(Google News) Murdered UConn Huskies player Jasper ‘Jazz’ Howard went to college to create a better life for himself and his family. Howard, who was fatally stabbed last Sunday in the centre of the Hartford, Conn., campus, went to college in hopes of escaping Miami’s Little Haiti neighbourhood, seeking an education and a shot at a pro football career.
Study: 6 U.S. Schools in Top 10 ranking:
(US News) A ranking published by the U.S. News & World Report says that six American universities placed in the top 10 schools globally. Harvard topped that list. Yale, Chicago, Princeton, MIT and Caltech also found their way into the ranking. The list is produced based on academic peer reviews, student to faculty ratios, and employer reviews.
U. of Georgia: 40% of J-school grads unemployed:
(US News) The Red and Black, University of Georgia’s student newspaper, is reporting that only 40 per cent of journalism and mass communications graduates found employment after graduation. A study published by UGA’s Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research cited reasons such as the simultaneous collapse of the economy and of certain media industries. The employment rate is the lowest in the study’s 23-year history.
U. of Florida prepares for zombie attack:
(Metro) The University of Florida has added zombie attacks to its pandemic preparations, briefing officials on how to deal with “flesh-eating, apparently life impaired individuals.” The school’s website featured proposed survival plans and staff administrative forms preparing for an undead apocalypse, along with more traditional outlines for dealing with hurricanes and pandemics. Suggestions included equipping all offices with easily barricaded doors able to withstand prolonged zombie incursion.
World
China’s army to recruit 130K college grads:
(Reuters) China is using its army to create jobs for students facing a tough job market by recruiting 130,000 college graduates. It also hopes to improve the quality of its foot soldiers by adding better-educated recruits to develop a more technologically sophisticated force. Sources told Reuters last month the army is planning on cutting 700,000 from the 2.3-million-soldier People’s Liberation Army.
Aussie dollar rises, number of international students falls:
(The Australian ) The number of international students seeking to study in Australia could fall by up to 10 per cent next year. The drop is the function of student inquiries from India dropping by half and a strong Australian dollar. It is compounded by a high-profile attack on a group of four Indians outside a bar near Melbourne last month. The loss of Indian students will be offset by an increase in interest from China.
Oxford slips in ranking , Asian rivals ‘snap at heels’:
(The Guardian) Oxford University dropped in the rankings of the world’s top universities as Asian universities begin to challenge Ivy League schools in the United Kingdom and United States. Top schools in the U.K. said schools in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong were “snapping at the heels” of western institutions, arguing British schools need more funding to compete on the global stage.
Indian university, Ericsson sign pact for education using 3G:
(Sify News) The Indira Gandhi National Open University has signed on with Telecom company Ericsson to provide educational content using state-of-the-art wireless technology. The university, which has 2.5 million students enrolled, will use 3G wireless technology to reach 1,000 students pursuing a certificate course in information technology. The university says it plans to roll out the technology to all courses following a six-month pilot project.
Darwin teaching divides opinion:
(BBC News Education) A poll conducted for the British Council determined that 53 per cent of people in 10 countries believe Darwin’s theory of evolution should be taught in school alongside other theories including creationism. "The majority of people in each country polled felt it was acceptable to have faith and think evolution happens by means of natural selection," said Dr Fern Elsdon-Baker, the head of council’s Darwin Now program. The poll marks the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s work, author of the Origin of Species.