Today's news

Graduate pay up 4% but jobs are down
Salaries for new graduates continue to rise but the number of available jobs is shrinking, according to a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters published today. Average starting salaries have risen above £20,000 for the first time to £20,300, an increase of 4.1 per cent on 2002. Graduates are, however, finding it harder to get appropriate work, with vacancies down by 3.4 per cent. The association’s survey of 195 employers found that investment banking, computing, oil and media companies have all reduced their graduate intakes sharply this year. Retailers, telecommunications, transport and construction companies reported the biggest increases in recruitment.
(Times, Daily Telegraph)

Durham approves Asian studies closure
Durham University's ruling council approved the controversial closure of its department of East Asian studies yesterday but agreed to consult on saving parts of the courses. The department of linguistics is also to close and undergraduate Middle Eastern and Islamic studies will be phased out to save £8.7 million, which the university intends to divert to provide more places on popular courses such as English, history and law. Kenneth Calman, the vice-chancellor, has been bombarded with letters of protest from diplomats, business leaders and former students, and the Foreign Office has also indicated its alarm at the loss of the courses.
(Daily Telegraph)

Charges over student catapult death
Two members of the Dangerous Sports Club have been charged with manslaughter after the death of an Oxford University undergraduate who was fired from a giant catapult. Biochemistry student Dino Yankov, 19, a Bulgarian, suffered fatal spinal injuries when he missed the safety net after being hurled 100ft through the air last November.
(Times, Independent)

Japanese scientists undertake mammoth task
After a six-year search Japanese scientists are preparing to clone prehistoric woolly mammoths from frozen DNA samples found in Siberia. Researchers from Kagoshima and Kinki universities and the Gifu Science and Technology Centre began the search in 1997 for sperm or tissue from mammoths preserved in the tundra. The Japanese scientists collected samples of bone marrow, muscle and skin from mammoth remains found in Siberia last August. Yesterday, after a year fighting Russian bureaucracy, the samples arrived.
(Guardian, Daily Mail)