Today's news

Ex-professor jailed in US Jihad case
Former Florida university professor Sami al-Arian was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison on Monday for aiding the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. US District Judge James Moody sentenced al-Arian to the maximum 57 months in prison but gave him credit for 38 months he has already served. He will have to serve the balance, 19 months, before being deported, prosecutors said. Al-Arian, 48, was arrested in February 2003 on charges he gave money and support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United States.
The Scotsman

University of Miami janitors to end strike
Striking janitors at the University of Miami and their employer reached an agreement Monday to end a two-month walkout that included hunger strikes by workers and students. The workers will return to their jobs Wednesday, both sides said. About a quarter of the university's 425 janitors have been on strike since early March. Several weeks after the strike began the university agreed to raise the minimum wages of its contract employees, but workers continued to strike, alleging unfair labour practices and demanding union representation.
The Guardian

Oxford keeps top place in guide
Oxford has retained its place as the UK's best university, according to The Guardian 's annual guide, published today. The university league table, which assesses teaching quality, staff-student ratios and graduate job prospects, is dominated by Oxbridge, with London-based institutions such as the School of Oriental and African Studies, the London School of Economics and Imperial College close behind.
The Guardian

Giant turtle's 5,000-mile odyssey in search of food
An astonishing 5,000-mile journey by the first giant turtle to be caught and tagged off the British Isles has excited scientists studying the endangered creatures. For eight months marine biologists have been tracking a 65st leatherback sea turtle that was caught off south-west Ireland last summer. Experts from University College Cork and the University of Wales, Swansea, fitted a satellite tracking device to the turtle before she was returned to the Atlantic.
The Daily Telegraph

A healthy advantage to being English
English men and women in middle age are more healthy and less "wimpy" than their counterparts in America, a study says today. The study of 55- to 64-year-olds found that rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and lung cancers were almost twice as high in the US. The English were less likely than Americans to report a "wide array" of diseases, said the survey by the Rand Corporation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies at University College London published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The Daily Telegraph

One in 20 suffers from personality disorder
Almost one in 20 people in the UK has a personality disorder, according to a study. The research also found that men were more likely to suffer from disorders than women and that the most common condition was obsessive-compulsive disorder. The study, conducted by The British Journal of Psychiatry , found that those who had been in care were more likely to suffer from disorders and were three times more likely to suffer from paranoid or schizoid disorders, where they felt withdrawn or isolated. Researchers interviewed 8,886 people, followed by in-depth discussions with 638 people.
The Independent, The Guardian

From the weekend's papers:

Saturday

• Scots young offenders to be guinea pigs in £2 million study by scientists from Oxford University. The Scotsman
  
• Cass Business School is launching the world's first masters degree in pensions. The Guardian

Sunday

• Universities plan easier degrees to beat strike. The Guardian, The Times Higher Education Supplement (Apr 14)
  
• A mumps epidemic is sweeping across universities. The Observer
  
• Parents are helping their student children by giving them pay-as-you-go credit cards. The Mail On Sunday

Monday

• Students leapt from Magdalen Bridge in Oxford to celebrate May Morning, despite police attempts to stop them. The Independent
  
• Cambridge University has set up an electronics research centre. The Financial Times