Popular schools are allowed to let in more pupils

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8529935/Popular-schools-to-be-allowed-to-let-in-more-pupils.html

Summary

There used to be restrictions for popular state schools to expand and take on more pupils however these restrictions will be lifted. This is to allow more pupils to go to their first choice of school. This will probably mean that financial problems will increase for less popular schools because the financial support a school gets is determined by the number of pupils they have. The Government suspects that local authorities sometimes put a stop to popular schools taking on more pupils because it would be harder to support weaker schools when they don’t have enough pupils.

Reaction

It seems like a good idea and I think it is fair that every pupil gets to go to the school of their choice. On the other hand I think schools should have the same standards and therefore there should not be a major difference between schools. “Good” schools should be available everywhere and for everyone.  If there are only a couple of good schools it would mean some students and teachers will have to travel further in the future. And I wonder if a bigger school would not create a less personal environment where students become numbers and there is less personal attention.

Teachers don’t want to be teachers anymore because of the high level of stress.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/apr/25/stress-drives-teachers-out-of-schools

Summary:

Due to the increase of stress many teachers do not want to be teachers anymore. This high level of stress has developed because of the target demands made by the government, especially the enhancing of form-filling has driven up the amount of work.  Health and Safety Executive found that the teaching profession is the most stress full profession, 41.5% of the teachers say they are highly stressed. For a small group of teachers this is even a reason to think about suicide.

Reaction:

Obviously things are not going as they should go. The fact that there are teachers who are thinking about suicide makes it clear that this is a real problem and that it already has gone too far. I think we should cherish teachers because we and our children benefit from their education. Therefore I feel the government should take better care of them and find a solution for this increasing problem. Because if this goes on nobody wants to be a teacher anymore and then what?

Medics drop 73 year old woman into the Arctic Ocean!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3538753/Grandmother-73-sprawls-in-freezing-Arctic-Ocean-after-being-dropped-in-rescue-from-cruise-ship-after-falling-ill.html

Summary

Janet Richardson, a 73 old woman, was on a cruise ship with her husband when she was struck by an internal bleeding. The crew of the ship was worried about her health and called in a rescue boat that could take her to the hospital for further treatment. When they tried to get her on the rescue boat they let the stretcher slip and Janet fell into the freezing cold water. It took them 8 minutes before they got her out of the water and finally brought her to the hospital. She is now on the intensive care and the doctors have no idea when her condition will improve.

Reaction

A horrible experience for this poor old lady, her husband and the people who saw it happen. And I can imagine the rescuers feeling terrible about it. Of course they did not do this on purpose but the question is if they could have prevented this from happening. In the latter part of the article it is said that some precautions weren’t taken. They could have gone to the docks to let Janet go of the cruise ship but because they wanted to save time and money, it was decided to do the rescue on sea. I wonder why time and money are (in this case) more valuable than a human life..

Thief spared from prison because the judge feels sorry for his cat..

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3532106/Thief-spared-jail-to-feed-his-cat.html

Summary:

A thief was spared from prison because the judge felt sorry for his cat. The lawyer of the defendant told the judge that there was no cat flap installed in his house and there was no one to feed the cat. The judge asked the defendant if he could kindly think of the cat a bit more before he went shoplifting again. And he let him go off with a 75 pound fine. Last year the judge let another defendant go off with a curfew so he would be able to attend a rock festival.

Reaction:

I think this is absolutely ridiculous; the whole justice system seems like a joke when you read this article. Anyone who is thinking about committing a crime will think “hell if I get caught I just come up with some lame excuse and the judge will let me go anyways”. I think that if the judge is concerned about the cat he could have send someone else to fetch it and put it in an animal shelter for the time being. And the costs would have to be paid for by the thug when he gets out of jail.

14 year old kills herself

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/girl-14-killed-herself-three-weeks-after-friends-suicide-537327.html

Summary;

A 14 year old girl, Jade, killed herself because she was depressed by the death of her friend Kirsty who killed herself three weeks before. It was her second attempt, on the night of the funeral Jade had tried to hang herself but failed. Some people think it was a suicide pact, given that Kirsty got depressed by the death of a friend of hers, who died after sniffing butane gas. Others say the girls were bullied.

Reaction:

Of course this is very sad. For the girls who felt so miserable that they decided to take their own lives. But also for the people they left behind, their family and friends. What I found a bit strange is that for both girls it seems like their happiness depended on just one person. Sure it is normal to miss a friend but they still have their other friends and their family. It seems like they meant nothing to them compared to that one friend. Or there was indeed more to it then just wanting to die because they lost someone.

European super grid

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/11/uk-netherlands-power-cable-britned/print

Summary:

The article is about a cable between the UK National Grid and the Dutch National Grid. Running from the Isle of Grain in Kent to Maasvlakte in Rotterdam and it's about 260 km long with a capacity of 1,000MW. This can be compared to the capacity of a nuclear power station.

The ten nations at the borders of the North Sea signed an agreement to build a European super grid, connecting the countries through cables to exchange energy. Renewable wind energy can be brought to countries where wind is not available and can be exported from the countries that have too much.

Comment:

I think it is a very good idea because it is very environment friendly and countries who want to use environment friendly energy but have not enough wind available are now given the change to use it too. The same goes for solar power and hydropower as is also mentioned in the article. In the article it is also mentioned that it is an advantage for consumers because a single European market puts pressure on the prices. Therefore I do not really see any disadvantages about this super grid.

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