UK university applicants drop by 12% before tuition fee rise

The number of applicants from within and outside the UK combined has fallen by 9% to 69,724, from 76,612 this time last year.

The statistics show that the number of applications – candidates can apply to up to five universities – from the UK and elsewhere has fallen by 7.9% to 299,764, from 325,527 this time last year.

Applications to Oxford, Cambridge, medicine, veterinary science and dentistry courses alone have fallen, but not by very much. The number of applicants has decreased by 0.8% (464 candidates), and the number of applications has gone down by 1.7% (2,298).

Universities and politicians have been worried that the decision to almost treble tuition fees to up to £9,000 next year would deter many, particularly the most disadvantaged, from applying. Students can pay the fees with a student loan to be repaid when they are earning more than £21,000.

The figures suggest more women than men have been put off from applying to university. Some 10.5% fewer women have applied this year, and 7% fewer men.

Mature students appear to have been particularly deterred by the higher fees, the figures show. The number of applicants aged 40 or older has fallen by 27.8%, and among those aged between 30 and 39 the number has dropped by 22.7%.

The figures do not show whether those from low-income families have been particularly deterred.

NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/24/university-applicants-drop-tuition-fees

Declining numbers of blacks seen in math, science

With black unemployment reaching historic levels, banks laying off tens of thousands and law school graduates waiting tables, why aren't more African-Americans looking toward science, technology, engineering and math — the still-hiring careers known as STEM?

The answer turns out to be a complex equation of self-doubt, stereotypes, discouragement and economics — and sometimes just wrong perceptions of what math and science are all about.

The percentage of African-Americans earning STEM degrees has fallen during the last decade. It may seem far-fetched for an undereducated black population to aspire to become chemists or computer scientists, but the door is wide open, colleges say, and the shortfall has created opportunities for those who choose this path.

STEM barriers are not unique to black people. The United States does not produce as high a proportion of white engineers, scientists and mathematicians as it used to. Women and Latinos also lag behind white men.

Yet the situation is most acute for African-Americans.

Black people are 12 percent of the U.S. population and 11 percent of all students beyond high school. In 2009, they received just 7 percent of all STEM bachelor's degrees, 4 percent of master's degrees, and 2 percent of PhDs, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

NEWS BY:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ja9P9ONQI85BmkNNrOFlDKIzVl_Q?docId=8d61edfa9d3f4d9183bb3d574a432cbe

Business opportunities abound between China-Massachusetts

NEW YORK - As the economic relationship between China and the United States grows rapidly day by day, Massachusetts is one example of a state that has opened new opportunities with China in life sciences, clean energy and higher education.

The economic ties between the two were strengthened after Governor Deval Patrick's trade mission to China in late 2007. Patrick called it a "powerful trip" and said the delegation returned with many new opportunities for Massachusetts companies to do business with China.

One of the highlights during the governor's visit was the establishment of the Massachusetts Technology Center at Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Shanghai - a State-level, high-tech industrial development zone with the presence of multinational companies, such as Citibank, Asia-Pacific Software, Sony, BearingPoint, Kyocera, Applied Materials and SAP AG.

NEWS BY:http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/us/2011-10/28/content_13995655.htm

European Stocks Climb on Debt-Crisis Deal; Banks Lead Gains

European stocks rallied to the highest in 12 weeks after the region's leaders agreed to expand a bailout fund to halt the sovereign debt crisis.

BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest bank, and Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's largest, surged at least 15 percent as policy makers decided to boost the firepower of the European rescue fund to 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion). PPR SA, the French owner of the Gucci luxury-goods brand, jumped 5.4 percent after third-quarter sales surpassed analyst estimates.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 3.6 percent to 249.42 at the close, the highest since Aug. 3. The index has rallied 16 percent from this year's low on Sept. 22 amid growing speculation that policy makers would agree on a solution to the region's debt woes.

“Some of the fear, which has been the dominant factor in the market, has been removed,” said Pierre Mouton, a fund manager who helps oversee $7.5 billion at Notz Stucki & Cie. in Geneva. “Europe came to an agreement and has a plan.

This allows financial stocks to rise because there is no longer the specter of nationalization. There is a sense of relief for the banking sector.”

National benchmark indexes gained in all of the 18 western European markets. Germany's DAX jumped 5.4 percent, its biggest increase since April 2009. France's CAC 40 climbed 6.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 2.9 percent.

Crisis Summit

European leaders persuaded bondholders to take 50 percent losses on Greek debt and resolved to increase the size of the rescue fund, responding to global pressure to step up the fight against the financial crisis.

The euro area's stewards said the plan points the way out of the debt quagmire, even if key details are lacking. Last- ditch talks with bank representatives led to the debt-relief accord, in an effort to quarantine Greece and prevent speculation against Italy and France from ravaging the euro area and wreaking global economic havoc.

Measures include recapitalization of European banks, a potentially bigger role for the International Monetary Fund, a commitment from Italy to do more to reduce its debt and a signal from leaders that the European Central Bank will maintain bond purchases in the secondary market.


NEWS BY:http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LTPMFT07SXKX01-2PP1LOBI2ME6NHCIBLM6OQV98T

Report: Wyoming educator evaluations could be stronger

Wyoming was not alone in updating its teacher evaluation systems, but it didn’t go far enough, according to a report released today by the National Council on Teaching Quality.

The report, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates and the Joyce foundations, was prepared to analyze the use of student performance data in evaluations and highlight the more ambitious state systems.

Wyoming, along with 32 states and the District of Columbia, made major changes to how schools evaluate teachers, principals and other certified personnel from 2009 to 2011.

“We’re taking big leaps forward even though there are some unanswered questions,” said Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the National Council for Teacher Quality.

The report rightly supports annual evaluations and high-quality evaluators but goes too far in suggesting student performance data be the heaviest-weighted factor in an evaluation, said Kathryn Valido, president of the Wyoming Education Association.

Valido said the union and its members support a rigorous evaluation based on multiple measures and completed by trained evaluators.

Valido also said the evaluation should be what determines whether or not a teacher is performing adequately to keep his or her job.

The State Board of Education approved new guidelines, referred to as the Chapter 29 rules, for Wyoming school district personnel evaluations in 2010. All districts were required to review their evaluation systems and submit revisions to the state for approval.

All 48 school districts submitted evaluation systems to the Wyoming Department of Education for review earlier this year, said department spokesman Jerry Zellars.

Department staff members reviewed the systems according to attributes identified by district superintendents and other educators. Evaluators determined 23 districts met all the guidelines and 25 districts needed to make adjustments. Zellars said not all the suggested changes have been made.

The state Legislature wrote “student achievement measures” into its Teacher Accountability Act. The law also requires local school boards to review a list of all teachers determined inadequate or unsatisfactory and the measures taken toward improvement.

The report noted 18 states require evaluations to be “significantly” informed by student performance data or that student achievement and growth be the dominant factor in the evaluation. Wyoming’s guidelines require the evaluation to include student performance growth data but do not recommend how much the data should be worth.

Valido said student data will be significant in conversations between an educator and his or her evaluator, but good teachers are not only defined by numbers.

“Teaching is not only a practice, it’s an art,” Valido said. “You can’t measure that artistry of teaching with a formula.”

The report did not favor any one method of evaluating teachers, and states that allow districts to develop their evaluation systems were among those highlighted as leading the pack.

“There needs to be a state role in assisting districts that don’t have the capacity or resources to build this on their own,” Jacobs said. “To reinvent the wheel lots of times might not be very efficient or effective, especially when you’re talking about building growth models with data that comes from the state anyway.”

Wyoming officials offered two nationally recognized evaluation models that fit the guidelines. All districts are required to follow the guidelines during the 2011-12 school year.

NEWS BY:http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=839632288575209123

Obama To Announce New Student Loan Initiative To Help Students Get Out Of Debt

When President Obama visits the University of Colorado, Denver campus on Wednesday, he is expected to talk about ways to ease the loan burdens of students and graduates.

A couple hundred of Auraria campus students camped out overnight Monday to obtain one of 4,000 tickets to the event, reported The Denver Post. Obama is on a Western-state campaign swing that includes California, Nevada and Colorado.

"If the message is going to be about debt management, I think all of our students are very concerned about managing their debt and managing their higher education," Raul Cardenas, associate vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Colorado Denver, was quoted in The Denver Post as saying.

One of the proposals the President is expected to advance is a special, income-based loan repayment program, according to CNN Money. Another is a program to encourage graduates with two or more types of federal loans to consolidate them into one and refinance.

These ideas were initially presented by Obama during the budget proposals, but are expected to be re-visited during his trip.

Obama's announcement comes as pressure on the U.S. government has been mounting to address the financial issues of students and graduates, such as student loan debt and paucity of jobs, CNN Money reported. The average student loan debt for the 2009 class graduating from four-year nonprofit colleges was $24,000, which encompassed all private and federal loans, the Institute for College Access & Success statistics revealed. Furthermore, the jobless rate for college graduates aged 24 and younger rose in 2010 to 9.4 percent, the highest since the U.S. Department of Labor began recording it in 1985.

The proposal to accelerate the income-based repayment program builds on a change already to come, The Wall Street Journal noted. Currently, borrowers may limit their loan payments to 15 percent of their income, with all debt being forgiven after 25 years of payments.

However, a change Congress already passed allows graduates, starting in 2014, to pay 10 percent of their income with all loans forgiven after 20 payment years. Wednesday, Obama is expected to reveal that the change will go into effect in 2013 rather than 2014.

This change could be particularly favorable for individuals with limited income. Monthly loan payments are based on any earnings above 150 percent of the poverty line, according to CNN. For a graduate living alone, this equates to 15 percent of any income made over $16,335. An unemployed person with no income would pay nothing.

This is significant for students at risk for default. In 2010, the default rate rose to 8.8 percent, up from 7 percent in 2009, Department of Education data showed. About 500,000 students are currently enrolled in the plan, but hundreds of thousands more are eligible.

"We need to get the word out to students... that they need not default," Justin Draeger, president of the the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said to CNN Money.

With the other measure, students with loans issued by both private banks and the federal government could combine them into one government loan and refinance, lowering their income rate and monthly payments, The Wall Street Journal indicated. This allowance could affect approximately 5.8 million people.

NEWS BY:http://www.citytowninfo.com/career-and-education-news/articles/obama-to-announce-new-student-loan-initiative-to-help-students-get-out-of-debt-11102502

Drexel’s future highlighted at Convocation

Speakers promote University’s partnership with Academy of Natural Sciences

Drexel University’s annual convocation ceremony was held Sept. 27 to celebrate the start of the 2011-12 academic year. President John A. Fry spoke at the event about the University’s future in many capacities and elaborated on the benefits of Drexel’s affiliation with the Academy of Natural Sciences.

The ceremony, held in the auditorium of the Main Building at 11 a.m., began with a procession of Drexel faculty, all outfitted in their personalized academic regalia, marching into the auditorium behind their respective college banners.

In his opening speech, Provost Mark Greenberg praised the teachers, whom he called “the foundation of Drexel’s reputation.” He acknowledged the students they teach and the “idea of the research university.

” Greenberg spoke at lengths about Drexel’s “capacity to transform lives through teaching and learning, neighborhoods and cities as an engine of innovation … and the fundamental texture of human life through technological and scientific discoveries, artistic interventions and cultural interpretations.”

He continued, stating “The modern research university has one additional capacity that helps characterize it, and that is the capacity to transform itself through growth, partnerships and affiliations.”

Many of the convocation speakers, including Greenberg, Fry and Richard A. Greenawalt, chair of the board of trustees, mentioned the University’s affiliation with the Academy of Natural Sciences, which was announced this past spring.

“This is an exciting development for Drexel, the Academy and all of Philadelphia,” Greenawalt said.

In his second-ever Drexel convocation address, Fry spoke extensively about the University’s partnership with the Academy.

“Bringing these two world-class institutions together is the sort of bold move that enhances a city, a region and an entire scientific community,” Fry said, before praising ANS president and CEO George Gephart for his effort to create the partnership.

“The synergies between Drexel and the Academy are incredibly promising as we bring together two outstanding teams of scholars and researchers,” Fry said.

“All of these researchers will have access both to the extraordinary scientific collections of the Academy and the advanced laboratories and technology of Drexel, especially those found at the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building.”

Another benefit of the merger is the creation of the new Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, which will begin enrolling students next fall pending the new department’s approval.

Additionally, Fry stated that members of the Goodwin School of Education will be partnered with Academy educators to develop new programs for students of all ages and to expand teacher training programs

The Westphal College of Media Arts and Design will also team up with the Academy to create new ways to share the Academy’s resources with visitors through media-rich exhibitions and cell phone applications.


NEWS BY:http://thetriangle.org/2011/09/30/drexel%E2%80%99s-future-highlighted-at-convocation/

Minnesota News Briefs: Rep. Bachmann pledges to get tough on illegal immigration

ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa -- Presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater) is talking tough about illegal immigration to supporters in Iowa. The Minnesota Republican signed a pledge over the weekend and promised to build a secure double-fence along the entire U.S.-Mexican border.

She said she will put her backbone up against any other candidate in the race and "job number-one will be securing that border." Bachmann claims the average American household pays a thousand dollars a year more in taxes to provide government benefits to illegal immigration. She also criticized Texas Governor Rick Perry for allowing children of illegal residents to pay in-state tuition for college.

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There's a virtual tie at the top of the latest GOP presidential poll released by CNN/ORC International. Leading into another debate tonight in Las Vegas, Mitt Romney and Herman Cain have 26-percent and 25-percent support, respectively. Rick Perry stands at 13-percent in the latest phone polling, followed by Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich. Sixth-District Representative Michele Bachmann remains near the back of the pack, at six-percent.

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A 27-year old mother from St. Paul is dead -- the victim of homicide. Police, who had been searching for her for several days, say her body was found Monday in a house just north of University Avenue. No identity has been released and no suspects are in custody.

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Voters go to the polls in two state Senate districts today for special elections. Three candidates are vying for the District-46 state Senate seat in the Brooklyn Park area, which became vacant on the death of state Senator Linda Scheid. Chris Eaton is the D-L candidate, Cory Jensen is the Republican and Tom Reynolds is carrying the Independence Party banner. Four candidates are competing for the open state Senate seat in District-61 in south Minneapolis. They are Independence Party candidate Matt Brillhart, Green Party candidate Farheen Hakeem, DFLer Jeff Hayden and Republican Bruce Lundeen. That seat came open when long-time state Senator Linda Berglin stepped down to take a job with Hennepin County.

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Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is buzzing with activity as families take vacation during what used to be known as MEA weekend. Most students in the state have at least two days off this week. Airport spokesman Pat Hogan says this is the busiest time of the fall for air travel, with a big surge today through Thursday, and again on Sunday when people come back. Hogan recommends arriving two hours before your flight because of long lines and a new baggage screening system. The two-day Education Minnesota Professional Conference runs Thursday and Friday at St. Paul's RiverCentre.

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The State Patrol has identified the victim of a fatal head-on crash Sunday afternoon near Nicollet in south-central Minnesota. Seventy-one-year-old Irene Schultz of New Ulm was killed when her car crossed the centerline on Highway 99 and collided with a semi. The St.Paul man driving the tractor-trailer was not injured. Both drivers were buckled up.

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Police don't believe last night's home invasion in Brooklyn Center was a random act and that the family was likely targeted Officers surrounded the residence after getting a call from the resident saying four masked gunman entered his home. Authorities say two of the suspects immediately surrendered when police arrived. The homeowner and his family also exited the house shortly after, followed by the third suspect. Authorities say the fourth suspect was later found hiding in the garage attic. No one was injured during the four hour standoff.

NEWS BY:http://www.piercecountyherald.com/event/article/id/40128/group/News/

OutBack Power Technologies Introduces New Product Line at Solar Power International Expo 2011

Technology Pioneer in Off-Grid Power Conversion Components Now Provides Complete Systems for Solar Power System Integrators

OutBack Power Technologies, Inc., a member of worldwide power systems provider The Alpha Group, will display its new product line for system integrators at booth #701 at the Solar Power International Expo 2011 (SPI '11), from October 17 to 20, at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas.

These new components will help transform solar-generated electricity into useable power for residential and commercial installations by enabling integrators to design smarter and more flexible systems -- especially in the rapidly growing grid-interactive category (systems capable of both grid-tied and off-grid operation).

"As solar and other renewable energy sources transition from 'alternative' to mainstream, system integrators keeping up with growing demand will need the best of two worlds: components from brands already proven in demanding off-grid applications,

pre-assembled into systems to save them time and money in grid-interactive and other growing market segments," said OutBack General Manager Harvey Wilkinson. "Our products debuting at Solar Power International provide the integrated system storage and management solutions they'll need to grow their businesses."

SPI '11 is the premier business-to-business global solar expo and is designed to serve and advance the solar energy industry. As that industry expands, the needs of solar system integrators and installers are rapidly evolving. OutBack is responding with pre-assembled systems based on its acclaimed components,

which save installation time and allow integrators to offer a total solution around a brand that's earned their confidence.

The following products will be displayed at the OutBack booth:

-- The Radian Series is the ideal foundation for grid-interactive and stand-alone power systems, as a fully integrated inverter/charger designed to simplify the design, distribution, installation and implementation of energy storage for a wide range of power requirements.

Combined with OutBack's new Battery Rack System, the Radian Series Inverter/Charger provides the independence and security in renewable energy needed to ensure the success of distributors and installers.

-- Battery Rack System is a complete integrated energy storage system with VRLA batteries that includes cell interconnects, cabling, over-current protection and disconnects.

As more systems incorporate energy storage, integrators can save considerable design and installation time with batteries-now-included from OutBack.

-- MATE3 System Display and Controller provides all the necessary intelligence for system management in a powerful and integrated control solution, making it easier to monitor, program and control complex off-grid, grid-interactive or grid-tied solar power systems.

"We are unveiling these components at SPI'11 to provide a way for solar system integrators to review our best-in-class innovations for the off-grid and grid-interactive markets in one venue," said Phil Undercuffler, director of product management and strategy at OutBack Power. "These products are in direct response to customer demands, and we will continue to provide our distributors with the ease of installation and quality they need as the solar industry matures."

For more information on OutBack Power and its products, visit www.OutBackpower.com .

OutBack Power Technologies, Inc. manufactures innovative power conversion solutions that integrate solar, wind and hydro resources to provide reliable electric power for the renewable energy, mobile and backup power markets.

OutBack Power's engineers have decades of power conversion electronics design and equipment installation experience and share a passion for leading the industry into a new era of performance, ease of use, durability and standardization. OutBack Power is a member of The Alpha Group. 

NEWZ BY:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/outback-power-technologies-introduces-new-product-line-at-solar-power-international-expo-2011-2011-10-17