Nibs

Sietsma taught herself to read while still in nursery school, never played with Barbie dolls, doesn’t play sports and has few friends her age. But she is incredibly clever: passing her upcoming exams will mean she has completed the final five years of secondary school in one year. According to the Informatie Beheer Groep, Sietsma’s starting university at age 12 is a Dutch national record.
Speed-dating

Canada’s McMaster University has adopted a ‘speed-dating’ approach to medical school interviews. According to Kien Trinh, chair of McMaster’s medical school interview committee, the new selection process involves applicants going through 12 separate mini-interviews. Applicants are provided two minutes to read through a scenario or specific question, and then given an eight-minute interview during which they must respond to the reading. A ringing bell signifies the end of each interview, at which point the applicant moves to the next one in a process that takes approximately two hours. “There are a number of different reasons we decided on this approach,” Trinh said, noting that McMaster previously used a more traditional panel interview process. “In the past only one or two people would interview each applicant, so they only had one opportunity,” he said. “If you didn’t get along well with the interviewer, you blew your chance. With 12 separate interviews, the applicants are given 12 chances.” The interviews test communication skills, assess critical thinking and determine how well applicants are able to work in a team setting.
Part-time jobs

TU Delft students will be giving extra classes to secondary school students who are preparing for their final exams. The classes are held at Leiden University. In February, Leiden representatives distributed flyers on the TU campus, asking for teachers of exact sciences. TU students studying aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, and applied mathematics have now been hired to give lessons to havo and vwo secondary students. There’s great demand for teachers of exact sciences. “We don’t have enough in Leiden,” says course coordinator Hans Huibregtse, “so we recruited them from Delft.”
Pigs’ blood

June in Oxford means the splash of university students celebrating the end of exams by jumping from bridges into the River Cherwell or pelting each other with eggs. But university authorities have now proposed sanctions, including fines of 60-150 euros on students who throw food or flour or who spray champagne or shaving foam. Throwing glitter or confetti is still allowed. The university says the proposed code was introduced after a run of rowdy parties last year. “There were too many student finals celebrations getting out of hand,” a university spokesman said. The code applies to a 9.7-kilometer radius of the ancient Carfax tower in the heart of Oxford. The code must still be debated by the Oxford University Students’ Union and the governing body of the University Council. “I don’t think it really inconveniences anyone, it’s usually just glitter and champagne,” said Laura John, 22, a student at Brasenose College who thought authorities were overreacting. But Jeannine Pits, 20, a student at Wadham College, said “I think dead fish and pigs’ blood are a bit much.”
Overhaul

Harvard University announced recommendations for a sweeping overhaul of its curriculum to require undergraduates to study or do research abroad, place a greater emphasis on the sciences and establish a new set of core classes. William C. Kirby, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, described the proposed emphasis as “an integral part of what it means to be educated in the first part of the 21st century. If you’re going to come to Harvard College, it would be very good to have a passport,” he said. The report from an undergraduate curriculum review committee followed an in-depth review of Harvard’s curriculum, which hasn’t been changed in three decades. The committee also recommended that the current system of general education be replaced with a new system in which faculty would be responsible for defining what students should learn and how. The review was launched in the fall of 2002 following revelations of grade inflation at the school, where 91 percent of seniors graduated with some kind of honors in 2001.
Resigned

Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) vice-chancellor Professor Rory Hume resigned over criticism of his handling of a recent academic scandal. In February, Hume faced criticism over the penalty dealt to controversial UNSW medical researcher Professor Bruce Hall, who was found guilty of academic misconduct after misrepresenting data in a government grant application. Hall was barred from holding administrative positions at UNSW but wasn’t dismissed. Vice-chancellor Hume’s contract with UNSW included a pay packet of about $750,000.

Clever girl

12-year-old Dutch girl Floor Sietsma will follow two degree programs at the University of Amsterdam: mathematics and computer science. Sietsma taught herself to read while still in nursery school, never played with Barbie dolls, doesn’t play sports and has few friends her age. But she is incredibly clever: passing her upcoming exams will mean she has completed the final five years of secondary school in one year. According to the Informatie Beheer Groep, Sietsma’s starting university at age 12 is a Dutch national record.
Speed-dating

Canada’s McMaster University has adopted a ‘speed-dating’ approach to medical school interviews. According to Kien Trinh, chair of McMaster’s medical school interview committee, the new selection process involves applicants going through 12 separate mini-interviews. Applicants are provided two minutes to read through a scenario or specific question, and then given an eight-minute interview during which they must respond to the reading. A ringing bell signifies the end of each interview, at which point the applicant moves to the next one in a process that takes approximately two hours. “There are a number of different reasons we decided on this approach,” Trinh said, noting that McMaster previously used a more traditional panel interview process. “In the past only one or two people would interview each applicant, so they only had one opportunity,” he said. “If you didn’t get along well with the interviewer, you blew your chance. With 12 separate interviews, the applicants are given 12 chances.” The interviews test communication skills, assess critical thinking and determine how well applicants are able to work in a team setting.
Part-time jobs

TU Delft students will be giving extra classes to secondary school students who are preparing for their final exams. The classes are held at Leiden University. In February, Leiden representatives distributed flyers on the TU campus, asking for teachers of exact sciences. TU students studying aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, and applied mathematics have now been hired to give lessons to havo and vwo secondary students. There’s great demand for teachers of exact sciences. “We don’t have enough in Leiden,” says course coordinator Hans Huibregtse, “so we recruited them from Delft.”
Pigs’ blood

June in Oxford means the splash of university students celebrating the end of exams by jumping from bridges into the River Cherwell or pelting each other with eggs. But university authorities have now proposed sanctions, including fines of 60-150 euros on students who throw food or flour or who spray champagne or shaving foam. Throwing glitter or confetti is still allowed. The university says the proposed code was introduced after a run of rowdy parties last year. “There were too many student finals celebrations getting out of hand,” a university spokesman said. The code applies to a 9.7-kilometer radius of the ancient Carfax tower in the heart of Oxford. The code must still be debated by the Oxford University Students’ Union and the governing body of the University Council. “I don’t think it really inconveniences anyone, it’s usually just glitter and champagne,” said Laura John, 22, a student at Brasenose College who thought authorities were overreacting. But Jeannine Pits, 20, a student at Wadham College, said “I think dead fish and pigs’ blood are a bit much.”
Overhaul

Harvard University announced recommendations for a sweeping overhaul of its curriculum to require undergraduates to study or do research abroad, place a greater emphasis on the sciences and establish a new set of core classes. William C. Kirby, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, described the proposed emphasis as “an integral part of what it means to be educated in the first part of the 21st century. If you’re going to come to Harvard College, it would be very good to have a passport,” he said. The report from an undergraduate curriculum review committee followed an in-depth review of Harvard’s curriculum, which hasn’t been changed in three decades. The committee also recommended that the current system of general education be replaced with a new system in which faculty would be responsible for defining what students should learn and how. The review was launched in the fall of 2002 following revelations of grade inflation at the school, where 91 percent of seniors graduated with some kind of honors in 2001.
Resigned

Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) vice-chancellor Professor Rory Hume resigned over criticism of his handling of a recent academic scandal. In February, Hume faced criticism over the penalty dealt to controversial UNSW medical researcher Professor Bruce Hall, who was found guilty of academic misconduct after misrepresenting data in a government grant application. Hall was barred from holding administrative positions at UNSW but wasn’t dismissed. Vice-chancellor Hume’s contract with UNSW included a pay packet of about $750,000.