News
There is good news from America
Matt French considers the news that we don’t hear enough of in Britain – anything positive about America
It seems all the news we have heard coming out of America recently has been about the weakening of the Dollar and the housing crisis brought on by the sub-prime mortgage lending fiasco. It makes you wonder what Americans might have heard about what is happening in Britain: presumably, it would have included reports on the disaster with Northern Rock.
It occurs to me that despite these stories things really aren't all that bad for the majority of people in Britain. So, therefore, how bad are things in America really? Do other US stories paint a different picture?
Popular with students
The first significant growth in the number of international students going to the US since the downturn after the events of September 11th 2001, has been reported for the 2006/2007 academic year.
The Institute of International Education's annual 'Open Doors' report, showed the number of international students in the US increased 3.2 per cent to 582,984, while the number of newly enrolled international students on US campuses increased by 10 per cent, suggesting further growth to come. In addition, the Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs showed the number of student and exchange visas issued in 2007 rose 10.2 per cent on the previous year.
Many in US higher education have been pushing hard for visa reform and for stronger international recruitment efforts, and these efforts seem to be paying off. California remains the leading host state for international students (77,987), followed by New York (65,884) and then Texas (49,081). Each of the top 20 leading hosting states experienced increases in foreign student enrolments, with North Carolina (6 per cent), Maryland and Texas (both 5 per cent) having the largest increases. The University of Southern California, Columbia University and New York University hosted the most international students.
Worried about the test?
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the 100 questions and answers that comprise the civics component of the new naturalisation test. USCIS will administer this new test to applicants from October 2008.
More than 6,000 citizenship applicants volunteered to take a pilot version of the test at ten USCIS sites across the country. The new questions were selected after USCIS, a panel of history and government scholars, and English as a Second Language teachers conducted a thorough review of responses to 142 items on the pilot.
The good news is that pass rates by test component were: civics 93.7 per cent; reading, 99.8 per cent; and writing, 99 per cent. This would seem to bode well for those taking the test after October 2008.
US schools ranked
A comprehensive review of 18,000 public high schools in 40 states of America shows it isn't only the most selective that perform well. US News, with research company School Evaluation Services, put schools through a three-step analysis. The top 100 were given gold awards. In first-place was Thomas Jefferson High School in suburban Washington, DC, which picks its students from the children of the nation's leaders. Yet only ten places lower, Hidalgo High School, which borders Texas and Mexico, comprises the children of challenged immigrants. The review looked at how students performed on state tests (with adjustments for student circumstances), how well disadvantaged students fared and the college-level coursework produced.
To view the full rankings visit US News.
Round-up
In a major defeat to the American auto industry, a federal judge has ruled that California can regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. The ruling clears one of the hurdles in the Golden State's efforts to cut exhaust emissions.
Florida Hospital Altamonte is doubling in size with a new $70 million, six-floor tower, adding 72 new beds, a chapel and healing garden. Also in the Sunshine State, Disney donated $10 million to Florida Children's Hospital. When complete in 2010, the hospital will have 200 beds in private, family-centred paediatric rooms.
17 April 2008