Students demand loans written off
More than 7500 Americans have applied to have student loans worth some $164 million written off in the past six months, using an obscure section of federal law which was recently rediscovered by student activists. In recent years, spiraling education costs have caused momentum in an anti-college revolt in The United States. Students who were enticed to pay tuition fees to universities making false promises that an education would lead to a good job can ask for debt relief. Click here for full article.
Aliens are dead, scientists say
Australian astrobiologists believe lifeforms have emerged on countless worlds but quickly died off as water on host planets either froze or boiled away. A paper by researchers at the Australian National University postulates a brief window of habitability arises on Earth-like planets around half a billion years after their formation, but the window rapidly closes as their surfaces quickly switch between freezing and hot extremes. The paper argues that what sets the Earth apart is that early life evolved to help stabilise its atmosphere by producing and consuming greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. Click here for full article.
Norton warns against using super to pay off HELP debt
Letting graduates raid superannuation to repay HELP loans is a bad idea, Andrew Norton of the Grattan Institute has warned. Mr Norton highlighted the compounding nature of superannuation earnings, removing sums early could have long-term financial consequences. As HELP debt interest is between 2 and 3 per cent, the earnings from super would accrue faster than the debt. Click here for full article.
More Asian students are vying for places in the world’s top music schools
After western music was banned under Mao, China has evolved into a virtuosic juggernaut in the field of Western classical and traditional music since 1976. With some 36 million young students studying piano alone, music schools across the world are reaping the benefits of the rise in Asian talent. Click here for full article.