Quick Takes: Loan Rates Rise, Training Science Teachers, Faculty Anger in Louisiana, 4-Year Degree at Villa Maria, Cyberinfrastructure

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Quick Takes: Loan Rates Rise, Training Science Teachers, Faculty Anger in Louisiana, 4-Year Degree at Villa Maria, Cyberinfrastructure

June 1, 2005 - 4:00am

By

Scott Jaschik

Interest rates on federally backed student loans will rise by nearly 1.93 percentage points as of July 1, the U.S. Education Department announced Tuesday. The increase, the first in five years and the largest one-year rise in the 40-year history of the federal loan programs, is especially important because Congress is considering eliminating the fixed rate of interest available to students when they consolidate several loans into a new one.

The University of California on Tuesday announced a new program that aims to quadruple, to 1,000, the number of new mathematics and science teachers it prepares each year. Under the program, students will earn a degree in a math or science field and a teaching credential in four years. California State University is also expanding its teacher preparation programs for science and math.

Professors at South Louisiana Community College have voted "no confidence" in and are calling for the ouster of Jan Borbst as chancellor, saying that she has created a "climate of mistrust and diminished morale," according to KATC News. The station reported that Walter Bumphus, president of Louisiana's community college system, defended Brobst and said he had no plans to remove her.

Villa Maria College, a two-year institution outside of Buffalo affiliated with the Sisters of Saint Felix, has received permission from New York officials to offer its first bachelor's degree. The degree will be offered in interior design

A panel of the National Science Foundation has released a report on the importance of cyberinfrastructure in the social sciences. The report says that too much discussion of cyberinfrastructure issues has focused on the physical and biological sciences, excluding the social sciences.

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