MATHS IN THE PAPERS

January 2002

In 1949, Frank McNamara, a banker, left his wallet at home and was unable to pay his restaurant bill. Thinking about the charge cards used by certain stores, he signed a small piece of cardboard which was accepted as payment. The Diners' Club, the first universal credit card, was born. In fifty years, Americans have spent $1.58 trillion dollars on plastic.

(TES 11/1/01)

Lara Croft boosts enquiry into basic skills
Education, Computer games

Nell McAndrew, the original Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider computer game, helped to launch the second phase of the 'Get On' campaign. Aimed at the 7 million UK adults with basic reading, writing and maths needs, the 12 weeks of television and radio advertising aims to boost the 50,000 calls received in response to the first phase of the campaign.

(TES 11/1/02)

Debt for University Students
Finance, Education

By the time they leave university, research shows that the average student will owe around £7000. Each year of higher education costs a student at least £4500 in living costs, and an average of £3000 in tuition fees.

(January 2002 Telegraph)

Tradition keeps us banking at the same place
Finance

Three million people switched their current accounts to new banks last year, compared with 1.5 million in 2000. Most people are sticking with their old current accounts with the big four banks, mostly because they've always banked there. Tradition still means more to us than a good deal.

(January 2002 Independent)

New vision for education
Education

'Personalised learning programmes' for use at home or school are the future of education, according to the new 'vision' statement from the Department of Education and Skills. The role of teachers would be minimal in the new vision – pupils would develop their individual talents at secondary level, after gaining a firm grounding of knowledge and skills at primary level. Some students, in theory, would be starting university modules while their classmates were still learning to read, write and use numbers.

(January 2002 Independent)

1901 Census Website closed due to excess demand
Statistics

The 1901 Census website has received hits exceeding expectations by a factor of 20, and is unable to meet continuing levels of demand. It is closed for at least a week in order to resolve technical problems related to demand. The 1901 census was taken on 31^st March 1901 and contains a comprehensive name index to over 32 million individuals.

(Census 1901 website)

Rise of number in high tax bracket
Finance

867,000 people earned between £50,000 and £99,000 before tax in 2000-01, compared to 702,000 in 1998-99. The Inland Revenue predicts a rise of 100,000 in the next tax year.

(Observer 13/1/02)

Primary school teachers long hours
Education

New research, to be published by the Hamilton Trust, an independent educational charity based in Oxford, will show that 70% of primary school teachers surveyed spend five or more hours a week at home preparing maths and literacy material.

(Guardian 15/1/02)

Challenging targets for Learndirect
Education

Learndirect has set 'challenging' targets in its new strategic plan. Aiming to become a high-street brand for learning, it wants one million learners to take two courses each by 2005.

(TES 18/1/02)

Headquaters of the Greater London Assembly requires 3-D software
Computers

The new headquarters building for the mayor of London and members of the Greater London Assembly is nearing completion. The glass-walled open-plan structure was designed using sophisticated software programs to accurately compute the three-dimensional calculations needed.

(FT 19/1/02)

Hampshire Constabulary changes entry criteria
Tests