Today's news

Oxford entrance test unfair to working class
The new Oxford University history entrance test is unfair to working-class students, say teachers. The history admission test, which applicants will sit for the first time next month, is couched in "middle-class" language, favouring those who can afford to be coached in exam techniques.
( The Daily Telegraph )

Scientists clash over tobacco talks
The scientist Baroness Greenfield is at the centre of a row after her institution agreed to host a seminar organised by the tobacco industry. The Royal Institution, of which the Oxford University professor of pharmacology is director, has been attacked as naïve after the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association hired its rooms for the talk "Science of the environment and tobacco smoke" next month.
( The Times )

Students suffer hardship after backlog in loans
Delays in loan payments are pushing undergraduates into financial hardship.
( The Guardian )

Derrida dies
French philosopher Jacques Derrida, whose name became practically synonymous with the word "deconstruction" and who has had an enormous influence on literary theory, died of pancreatic cancer on Friday, aged 74.
( The Times , The Guardian , The Independent , The Daily Telegraph )

Money row stalls apprenticeships
A government pledge to end age discrimination in skills training is held up by a Whitehall funding row, it has emerged. It is a year since Charles Clarke, Secretary of State for Education and Skills, promised publicly funded apprenticeships for over 25s. But business organisations are concerned that the fine words have not been supported by any new money.
( The Daily Telegraph )

Student improves design product
A German student on a summer placement with a Sussex-based medical company has succeeded in improving the design of one of its key products, potentially creating an additional £300,000 of sales. Martina Rieder, 24, from Munich, is studying at Sussex University and applied to take part in the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme and was recruited by Crawley-based Welland Medical, which makes colostomy and stoma bags.
( The Daily Telegraph )

Creative executives get lessons in finance
The Centre for Creative Business is being launched today to give executives in advertising, architecture, design, fashion, film, media and production businesses greater financial skills. The centre, which will run courses at the London Business School and The University of the Arts London, was given £1.4 million in seed funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
( Financial Times , The Independent )

US accreditation of the OUBS
The Open University Business School has become the first distance-learning school to be accredited by the US Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
( Financial Times )

Delays in radiotherapy are killing cancer patients
The number of cancer patients waiting for more than four weeks for potentially life-saving radiotherapy has more than doubled in six years, according to a study by Dan Ash, outgoing president of the Royal College of Radiologists.
( Daily Mail )

Women can hold their drink better than men
Male drinkers are far less capable of retaining self-control, according to a study by scientists at Kentucky University. The research says that men’s loss of inhibition is more than three times as great as that of women with the same concentration of alcohol in their blood.
( Daily Mail , The Sun )

Taste for the euro
The euro can be bad for children’s health, a study has revealed. Andreas Constantopoulos, of Athens University, found the number of coins swallowed had doubled since the euro was introduced in Greece in 2002. He concluded they were lighter and easier to swallow than older coins.
( Daily Mail )

Higher education in the weekend news
One in seven UK students is expected to drop out of university, but there are wide regional variations. The Guardian
Britain’s leading universities are in revolt over attempts to influence their undergraduate intake. Financial Times
A significant number of Oxford Colleges are supporting calls for the university to move towards privatisation and independence from the Government. Sunday Telegraph
Frisky freshers at Surrey University are more likely to have sex in their first month than at any other campus, according to a poll by virginstudent.com. The People , News of the World