“There are really good reasons for Junior Certificate reform, and really bad ones. The worst reason would be a desire to save money. It is expensive to set, supervise and correct 10 to 12 exams for 15 year olds, not to mention the costs of teaching them in the first place …” (more)
[Breda O'Brien, Irish Times, 30 April]
“Emma Watson has denied claims that bullying drove her to take a break from university. Last month the Harry Potter actress announced she was taking time out from her studies at Brown University so she could focus on her film career. But last week it was alleged that she was bullied out of the US Ivy League college …” (more)
[Independent, 30 April]
“UCD 2 Sligo Rovers 1 Robbie Benson and Graham Rusk scored the goals to ignite UCD’s season – and pose major question marks over Sligo Rovers’ title aspirations. College got their first home goal of the campaign as early as eight minutes when Benson headed Deam Marshall’s corner past Brendan Clarke …” (more)
[Irish Examiner, 29 April]
“If you have never heard of Andrew Breitbart, think yourself lucky. He is a man with a mission in the United States, mostly to do with combating anything he regards as liberal. He has maintained several websites dedicated to these pursuits, some of which use interesting techniques …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzysnki, University Blog, 30 April]
“Today, a three-judge panel of a US Appeals Court lifted an injunction against the NIH’s revised policy on the funding of stem cell research. The new policy, which would open up research funding to many more human embryonic stem cell lines (hESCs), attracted a lawsuit from researchers who focus on adult stem cells …” (more)
[John Timmer, Ars Technica, 29 April]
