Infinite Unknown

Chemistry pupils have flunked O-level questions from 50 years ago, deepening fears that the subject is being dumbed down.

The teenagers were unable to answer questions from the 1960s and 1970s set by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The average mark for the 1960s questions was just 16 per cent.

Focused: A 1960 chemistry class

Yesterday, the society warned that pupils are no longer tested in rigorous problem-solving and are instead guided to the right answers.

It said that modern exams use questions that require only one or two lines of working.

Even bright pupils were baffled by many of the old questions, said the RSC chief executive, Richard Pike.

He added: ‘There is no doubt that the clever pupils are as sharp as they ever were, but most are being stifled by an educational system that does not encourage more detailed problem-solving and rigorous thinking.’

Two thousand 16-year-olds from 450 schools entered the online competition, which involved sitting a two-hour paper made up of chemistry O-levels and GCSEs from the past five decades.

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Tags: Chemistry, Students

· Lecturers fear threat to academic freedom
· Manual downloaded from US government website

A masters student researching terrorist tactics who was arrested and detained for six days after his university informed police about al-Qaida-related material he downloaded has spoken of the “psychological torture” he endured in custody.

Despite his Nottingham University supervisors insisting the materials were directly relevant to his research, Rizwaan Sabir, 22, was held for nearly a week under the Terrorism Act, accused of downloading the materials for illegal use.

The student had obtained a copy of the al-Qaida training manual from a US government website for his research into terrorist tactics.The case highlights what lecturers are claiming is a direct assault on academic freedom led by the government which, in its attempt to establish a “prevent agenda” against terrorist activity, is putting pressure on academics to become police informers.

Sabir was arrested on May 14 after the document was found by a university staff member on an administrator’s computer. The administrator, Hisham Yezza, an acquaintance of Sabir, had been asked by the student to print the 1,500-page document because Sabir could not afford the printing fees. The pair were arrested under the Terrorism Act, Sabir’s family home was searched and their computer and mobile phones seized. They were released uncharged six days later but Yezza, who is Algerian, was immediately rearrested on unrelated immigration charges and now faces deportation. Continue reading »

Tags: Al-Qaida, Detention, extremism, Government, Police, Police State, Students, terrorism, torture

WASHINGTON — A German graduate student in oceanography at M.I.T. applied to the Transportation Security Administration for a new ID card allowing him to work around ships and docks.

What the student, Wilken-Jon von Appen, received in return was a letter that not only turned him down but added an ominous warning from John M. Busch, a security administration official: “I have determined that you pose a security threat.”

Similar letters have gone to 5,000 applicants across the country who have at least initially been turned down for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, an ID card meant to guard against acts of terrorism, agency officials said Monday. Continue reading »

Tags: Homeland Security, ID card, Immigration, MIT, National Science Foundation, Students, Transportation Security Administration

Dozens of San Diego State University students were arrested after a sweeping drug investigation found that some fraternity members openly dealt drugs and one even sent a mass text message advertising cocaine, authorities said Tuesday.

Two kilograms of cocaine were seized, along with 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and at least $60,000 in cash, authorities said.

Of the 96 people arrested, 75 were students. Eighteen of the students were arrested Tuesday when nine search warrants were executed at various locations including fraternities, said Jesse Rodriguez, San Diego County assistant district attorney.

The undercover probe, dubbed Operation Sudden Fall, was sparked by the cocaine overdose death of a student in May 2007, authorities said. As the investigation continued, another student, from Mesa College, died Feb. 26 of a cocaine overdose at an SDSU fraternity house, the DEA said.

Those arrested included a student who was about to receive a criminal justice degree and another who was to receive a master’s degree in homeland security. Continue reading »

Tags: DEA, Drugs, Homeland Security, Students

The Defense Department has announced a new get-tough policy with colleges and universities that interfere with the work of military recruiters and Reserve Officer Training Corps programs.

Under rules that will take effect April 28, defense officials said they want the exact same access to student directories that is provided to all other prospective employers. Continue reading »

Tags: Defense Department, Pentagon, recruiters, ROTC, Students, Supreme Court, universities