Today's news

Directors snub worthless degrees
A survey on student debt reveals that a fifth of company finance directors believe that university degrees are not worth their cost to students. They said that 'dumbed down' degrees in less traditional subjects could harm the market value of university qualifications.
(Daily Telegraph)

Camp studies cause rumpus on campus
The annual hand-wringing over Oxbridge entrance has nothing on a long-running row in Michigan, where the state president of the conservative American Family Association, has spent three years campaigning against a course at the University of Michigan entitled "How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation". The syllabus promises to examine "camp, diva-worship, drag, muscle culture, taste, style and political activism".
(Times)

Spycatcher throws in hat for Trinity post
MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove, who has announced that he will stand down from his post early next year, two years sooner than expected, is apparently keen to become the next master of Trinity College, Cambridge.
(Evening Standard, Education)

Why blondes prefer gentle men
Rugged jawlines and masculine brows are no guarantee of success with the opposite sex, according to academics from Northumbria University. Women are just as likely to prefer men's faces with a low hormonal influence. Their results, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, show a strong correlation between testosterone and perceptions of personality, but no link between testosterone and physical attractiveness.
(Times)

House prices in university towns rising
According to figures from the Halifax, house prices in 12 out of 15 university towns and cities have outperformed the UK price average.
(Independent)

GCSE students reap rewards of success
Parents will spend the equivalent of £147 million in gifts to reward GCSE results this year, a poll of 500 teenagers for the government's Learning and Skills Council has found. 46 per cent have been promised cash rewards, 12 per cent holidays and 7 per cent a car.
(Financial Times)

Scientists find clue to smokers' cancer risk
According to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a scientist at the University of Texas has discovered that the caps at the end of chromosomes that stop them degrading may be associated with risk of smoking-related cancers.
(Daily Telegraph)

Teach First recruits talk
Three graduates discuss why they decided to join the Teach First scheme at Canterbury Christchurch College.
(Daily Telegraph)

Where students can turn for help
A look at welfare officers and the university support system.
(Evening Standard, Education)

Taking the law into your own hands
A university degree is not the only route to a career in law.
(Evening Standard, Education)