UK colleges failing the poor
Universities have to do more to encourage applications from working-class students, Estelle Morris, the education secretary will warn today. Ms Morris will tell vice-chancellors that universities need to "grow demand" for places. ( Guardian )
Bleak outlook for graduate recruits
A survey of 166 companies by the Association of Graduate Recruiters has found that one in 10 employers has withdrawn job offers from new graduates in the past three months. 26 per cent have cut their target number of graduate recruits since July 2001, with the outlook worsening. ( Independent )
Genetic make-up plays role in asthma
Asthma is primarily a genetic illness in which family inheritance plays a much larger role than environmental pollutants and allergens, scientists from the Institute of Psychiatry in London and the University of Southampton have concluded. ( Times , Independent )
Surprise winner of 2001 Stirling prize
In the contest for the Royal Institute of British Architects' Stirling Prize for the best building of 2001, the Eden Project in Cornwall was unexpectedly defeated by a different kind of tourist attraction - the Magna Centre, a converted steel mill in Rotherham. ( Independent , Guardian )
Left-handers recall more easily
Members of a family that is dominated by left-handers tend to be better at remembering events and facts, according to experiments reported by the University of Toledo yesterday. The studies also shed light on why it is that few of us can remember events before we are four years old, according to the American psychologists who described them in the journal Neuropsychology . ( Daily Telegraph )
US students flock to enroll for spy school
American students are rallying to support the war on terrorism by applying to join the CIA. Campuses reported that the agency was attracting record audiences after launching a recruitment drive at universities for "the extraordinary individual who wants more than just a job". ( Daily Telegraph )
Schoolboy solves hieroglyphic mystery
A schoolboy who taught himself to read hieroglyphics has outwitted experts in Egyptology by identifying a 2,600-year-old mummy that has baffled museum curators at Sheffield Museum since it was donated to the city by a private collector in 1893. ( Independent )
Mobile results service for Singaporean students
A technology-loving college in Singapore is launching a novel exam results service that will end the days of students waiting for that brown envelope. From next month, Temasek polytechnic will send out results in text messages to students' mobile phones. ( Guardian )