Jump in university tuition fees likely to fuel inflation concerns
Petrol prices, gas and electricity bills have borne most of the blame for rising inflation since the start of the year. But the new inflationary concern this October is likely to be tuition fees. Universities will be allowed to charge up to £3,000 a year from September, up from the current level of £1,175. As almost all universities have decided to charge the full sum, the rise represents an increase of 155 per cent in the price of studying for most students in English universities. The jump in tuition fees has caused a spike in the Bank of England's inflation forecast for the fourth quarter of the year since it, along with almost everyone else, forgot about the change in previous forecasts.
Financial Times , Daily Mail
Anthropology lecturer appeals in bullying case
A lecturer who lost an unfair dismissal case after claiming he had been bullied out of his job at Scotland's oldest university today launched an appeal. Declan Quigley took St Andrews University to an industrial tribunal after quitting his post as a lecturer in the social anthropology department in 2002. An employment tribunal rejected his claim for unfair dismissal. Today his lawyer, Catherine Callaghan, argued there were grounds to appeal against that decision, which was reached in 2004. She explained there were 10 incidents Mr Quigley had claimed amounted to a breach of his contract. The original tribunal had rejected those claims but Ms Callaghan argued it had failed to consider the effect of the incidents together.
The Guardian
Student discount card to launch alongside top-up fees
A long-awaited discount card for students will be launched next month to coincide with top-up fees amid fears already cash-strapped students will be pushed further into debt. The National Union of Students (NUS) Extra card will be available to students UK-wide from the start of the academic year next month. It will offer discounts to students as well as creating an additional source of income for local student unions. Almost 40 businesses have offered discounts to cardholders, meaning the new card will offer 12 times as many partners as the old NUS card.
The Guardian
Ancient sage in the global market place
Confucius is making a comeback. Two and a half millennia after his death, and 60 years into a regime that has, until now, either despised or ignored him, the Chinese philosopher and teacher of ethics is being resurrected to spearhead a "brand-building" exercise by the Chinese government, to be launched at universities worldwide. Over the next year, three institutes are opening in the UK, at Manchester and Edinburgh Universities, and at the London's School of Oriental and African Studies.
The Independent
Research cutbacks 'will affect patients' care, says BMA
Spending on health research by the Government could be cut by nearly a quarter, jeopardising improvements in patient care, the British Medical Association warned yesterday. The BMA says that the amalgamation of the Medical Research Council and the NHS Research and Development Programme could lead to a reduction in the budget of £300 million. It says that the Treasury proposes a health research budget of nearly £1 billion but the combined budget should amount to £1.3 billion in 2007-08 if current funding levels were maintained.
Daily Telegraph
Violence is blamed on 'warrior gene' in the Maoris
Maori leaders reacted furiously yesterday after a scientist said their race carried a "warrior gene'' that predisposed them to violence and criminal behaviour. Dr Rod Lea, a genetic epidemiologist, told the International Conference of Human Genetics in Brisbane that Maori men were twice as likely as Europeans to bear monoamine oxidase, a gene that is also connected with risk-taking behaviour such as smoking and gambling. He was reported as saying the discovery went "a long way to explaining some of the problems'' Maoris had in New Zealand. Dr Lea's findings come at a sensitive time after a series of high-profile cases of deaths and assaults of children in Maori families.
Daily Telegraph
Fossil breakthrough reveals the dawn of life in three dimensions
Fossil embryos from the dawn of multicellular life have been examined in three dimensions for the first time, using a technique that will cast new light on a crucial early chapter in evolution. Scientists from the University of Bristol have produced images of embryos that are 500 million years old. The technique has revealed the developmental stages of the fossil embryos, which belong to ancient and extinct worm-like species. The research is published in the journal Nature and will allow scientists to study how embryos developed at a very early stage in evolutionary history.
The Times
Crayfish are rescued from their cannibal cousins
An experiment has begun to try to save the native British white-clawed crayfish from being pushed into extinction by the more aggressive American signal crayfish. Hundreds of the protected British crayfish, increasingly under threat from the alien invaders, are being moved to a safe haven where it is hoped that they will flourish. One of the most perilous areas is By Brook, near Chippenham, Wilts, a tributary of the Avon. Yesterday, scientists from the Environment Agency, assisted by crayfish experts at Avon Wildlife Trust, undertook the first experiment of its kind in Britain to relocate the native crayfish from the tributary.
Daily Telegraph , Daily Mail
Letters
Top-up fee debate
The Independent