Currently universities have a vast array of measures they use to gauge how successful they are. Most of the measures have a lot to do with prestige and not much to do with the outcomes of their graduates or the quality of the education their students receive.
When World Heritage sites are under threat, like Florida’s Everglades National Park, they are added to the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Flickr/slack12
The United Nations is set to decide whether to add the Great Barrier Reef to the List of World Heritage in Danger. But what is the list, and what does it mean for the places that are on it?
Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen has promised to cut super tax concessions for the rich.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
David Court, Australian Film, Television and Radio School
The producers of a creationist doc took advantage of Screen Australia’s tax offsets. Were they exploiting a loophole? Hardly – and there’s good reason why producers of all films should enjoy such benefits.
Systematic reviews of the research judge the current evidence as mostly in favour of drinking coffee.
momente/Shutterstock
Sport for Jove’s The Merchant of Venice is a production of ourstanding clarity, making it ideal for students or perhaps even those who simply don’t often see Shakespeare in the theatre.
Jubilant scenes from Ireland’s ‘Yes’ cohort after a referendum victory that is echoing around the world.
AAP/Aiden Crawley
The impact of Ireland’s affirmative vote on marriage equality is getting attention from all around the world. Will the result create a “social revolution” as some are suggesting?
Scientists knew the mystery signals were close by the Parkes radio telescope: but what was the source?
Flickr/Amanda Slater
Astronomers used to probing the universe always knew that strange signals detected by the Parkes radio telescope were coming from somewhere closer to home. But finding the source was the tricky bit.
The overhaul of arts funding has left the sector in shock – with many looking for clues as to how George Brandis’ new arts funding body with work in practice.
Tom_Allan/Flickr
The arts sector has been shocked by cuts to the Australia Council – but details about the new National Program for Excellence in the Arts are in short supply. What do we know about George Brandis’s vision for the arts?
‘Millions of children in overseas orphanages … would dearly love to have parents’, claims Tony Abbott, and his government is making intercountry adoption easier.
Screenshot/Intercountry Adoption Australia
Most of the world’s ‘orphans’ are not orphans at all and many are caught up in a global trade in meeting demand for adoption. Making intercountry adoption easier adds to the risks for these children.
There are 100 females for every 80 males at university. Who else goes to uni? And how is it changing?
from www.shutterstock.com.au
In 1970 there were 269 male university students per 100 female university students. However females overtook males in 1987 and now there are 80 males for every 100 females.
The MV Shen Neng I spills oil onto the Great Barrier Reef in 2010. Large accidents are rare, but there is still very little monitoring of long-term chronic damage from shipping.
AAP Image/AMSA
Port traffic near the Great Barrier Reef will more than double by 2025, as coal and other exports grow. While major incidents are rare, the chronic toll on the reef itself still remains largely unknown.
Aldi’s “no frills” approach and private labels have been very successful.
Julian Smith/AAP
Aldi is announcing trial stores that will attempt to capture more of the middle income market. But does it risk killing the golden goose?
Tony Abbott opens the campaign office for Liberal candidate Ken Wyatt in 2010. Now he and all incumbent MPs enjoy a $300,000 advantage over their challengers at the next election.
AAP/Dean Lewins
‘Better Communities’ funding is supposedly non-partisan: every electorate gets $300,000 for local projects. But only incumbent MPs have a say in this spending and 60% of them are government members.
Aboriginal people alleviate food insecurity by going crabbing or fishing on traditional lands.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP
It’s been seven years since Kevin Rudd delivered his apology to Indigenous Australians. On Australia’s stages dramatists continue to explore the ramifications of that apology and colonial history.
For every death there’ll be many more hospital admissions for things such as strokes and heart attacks.
Vladimirs Koskins/Shutterstock
Most people are acutely aware of the toll the heat can take on human life. So it may come as a surprise that more Australians die from the cold than the heat.
Cyclone Pam struck the developing island nation of Vanuatu in March 2015. Poorer nations are more exposed to environmental dangers so are more concerned about impacts that might increase the risk.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
Who cares more about environmental issues: people in rich countries, or not-so-rich countries? A survey suggests it’s those in poorer places who are more vulnerable to issues like climate change.
Uber drivers have been classified as taxi drivers and will have to register for GST. Uber says they will challenge the decision.
MAHATHIR MOHD YASIN / Shutterstock.com
“Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the English syllabus was made up of books that students love?” Australian author Melina Marchetta’s novels have won her many devoted fans and she’s passionate about engaging young people with literature.
A Type Ia supernova designated SN 2014J in the galaxy M82, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA, ESA, A. Goobar (Stockholm University), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
When we look up at the night sky, it’s easy to feel as though the stars we see have always been, and always will be, there. But just like ourselves, stars are born and die. And when they die, they sometimes…
“I have a bit of resistance to the way the world is and making up my own world is a response to that,” says Pakistani novelist Mohsin Hamid, a guest at this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival.
Journalists are often expected to engage with social media.
Esther Vargas/Flickr
