MATHS IN THE PAPERS July 2002

Spider Man
Entertainment, Percentages
Top of the UK box office charts for the last three weeks, 'Spider Man' may face serious competition next week, when 'Minority Report' is released. 'Spider Man' takings are already 40% down on last week's figures.

				Ananova 3/7/02

Teacher training figures up
Teaching, Percentages
There has been an increase in the number of people applying for teacher training. The figure for England was up more than 10% in June compared with last year's figures. Applications to teach foreign languages,however, have dropped, possibly due to government plans to scrap French and German as compulsory subjects for 11-14 year-olds. Although there is a 17% risein applications to teach maths, one expert has said that this will still fallshort of government targets for maths teachers.

				Ananova 3/7/02

British Airways figures down
Transport, Percentages
British Airways have suffered a drop in passenger numbers amounting to 12.2% on the same month last year. Problems with Air Traffic Control and the World Cup have been blamed for the fall. The airline carried 3.3 million people in June, an improvement on the previous month's figures of 3.1 million.

				Ananova 3/7/02

Incentive for teaching maths
Teaching
In a plan to fill spaces, potential teaching recruits may be offered an incentive to enter teacher training. People with a maths background may benefit from up to £3600 to increase their subject knowledge prior to teacher training. This will enable those who are planning career changes to view teaching as a potential option. This comes with news that fewer men are training as teachers and numbers of maths and science graduates joining the profession have dropped.

				TES archive 5/7/02

MMR Vaccine
Health, Percentages
Over 75% of people questioned in a recent survey believe there should be a full public inquiry into the MMR vaccine. The combined vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella has been blamed for a rise in autism and bowel disease in children. The ICM poll was carried out for the News of the World, and found that fewer parents think the vaccine is safe now than when the question was asked last year. 55% thought the vaccine was safe, 28% were unsure, while 17% thought the vaccine was dangerous.

				Ananova 6/7/02

Ofsted Inspection harms education
Teaching
Ofsted inspections may harm children's education, according to a new report from a study conducted by Cambridge University. Professor Maurice Galton and Professor John Macbeath conducted the study, which shows that external inspection was seen as having the most negative impact on teachers' working conditions and 'pupil opportunity'. However, teachers believed that the introduction of the maths hour and the national curriculum in the 1900s was a beneficial reform.

				Ananova 7/7/02

Crime figures
Crime, Health
Shoplifters cost British retailers £1.25bn a year.

11 crimes are reported in England and Wales every minute.

Criminal offences have increased by 6% in the last year.

London street crime has increased by 38% in the last year

.

MI5's budget for 2002/2003 is £217m. 33% of this is allocated to combating international terrorism, a 50% increase on last year's allocation.

10% of hospital patients return home with an infection picked up on the wards they occupied.

				Observer Magazine 7/7/02

New £5 notes withdrawn
Finance, fractions
Five pound notes are in short supply, due to a printing problem, which has halted production. When the Bank of England discovered, six weeks ago, that serial numbers on their five pound notes could rub off within minutes of handling, printing was suspended. Almost a tenth of the 200 million £5 notes in circulation are thought to have been withdrawn because of the problem.

				Ananova 8/7/02

Effect of Aids
Health, multiples
A report by Children on the Brink, released at the 14^th International Aids Conference in Barcelona, states that 13.4 million children in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America have lost one or both parents to Aids. That number is expected to almost double to 25 million by 2010.

				Ananova 10/7/02

Minority Report
Entertainment
'Minority Report' made £3.9 million in its first weekend at UK cinemas, topping box office charts and knocking 'Spider Man' into second position with £1.45 million.

				Ananova 10/7/02

Extra money for GPs
Health
About 1300 GPs are expected to benefit this year from a new scheme outlined by Health Minister John Hutton. In an attempt to retain GPs after they reach 60, payments of £2000 per year will be paid, up to a maximum £10,000 over five years, to GPs who continue to work between the ages of 60 and 65.

				Ananova 12/7/02

Women and money
Finance, Percentages
A new report from the Fawcett Society and Disability Alliance shows that women are taking more responsibility for money matters. But they have a long way to go to catch up with men when it comes to income protection. Women who do take out income protection and critical illness cover are more likely to make claims on their policies. In 2002, 55% of all claims resulting from cancer and 65% of MS claims were from women.

				TES archive 14/7/02

Teachers and Property
Teaching, Finance
According to the Halifax, Britain's largest mortgage lender, teachers would need a pay rise of up to £18,750 a year to enable them to buy a house in London or the South East. With house prices having risen at more than twice the rate of teachers' pay in the last five years, many are unable to get a foot on the property ladder.

				Independent 15/7/02

Subjects squeezed for Maths and English
Teaching
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has told primary schools that while English and Maths should be taught daily, other subjects, such as history and geography need only be taught every other term, not every week.

This latest guidance is likely to increase concern that, in order to accommodate literacy and numeracy strategies, other subjects such as art, music and even science are being squeezed out of the curriculum.

				Ananova 17/7/02

Statistics in the news
Health, Finance, World affairs, Percentages
3.21% of working hours are taken as sick leave in the UK every year.

There are 2m disabled parking badges in use in the UK. One third of these are estimated to be used by the able bodied.

1.98% of the world's refugees and asylum seekers are hosted by the UK.

The average shopper spends 22 minutes looking at a new dress or suit before buying it. The average house buyer spends 18 minutes looking round a house before putting in an offer for it.

				Guardian Unlimited 23/7/02

Business want more vocational training
Finance, Education
UK Business leaders, in areport published by the Institute of Directors, are urging the Government to drop plans to get 50% of young people into higher education by the end of the decade. There is already a shortage of skilled crafts people and those with intermediate engineering and communications skills. This situation will worsenif more young people move into higher education rather than vocational training.

				Independent 22/7/02

Effects of Alcohol
Health, Percentages
The popular belief that a moderate intake of alcohol can be good for you has been questioned in a new study by statisticians at the Institute of Public Health in Cambridge. While the odd drink might be a good idea if you are middle-aged or older, young people, even if their in take is less than the recommended safe limit, may substantially increase their risk of death by drinking alcohol. For women between the ages of 16 to 54 the risk of dying increased by five percent if they drink between 8 and 20 units of alcohol a week. For men the risk is similar if they drink between 5 and 34 units aweek. The study recommends a daily limit of one unit a day for women under 44 and one unit a day for men under 34.

				Independent 26/7/02

Consumer boom is over
Finance, Percentages
The demand for mortgages fell last month, and retail sales took an unexpected plunge, prompting fears that the consumer boom is over. The volume of retail sales fell by 0.7% in June and 0.5% in May, making it the first two-month fall for four years.

				Independent 26/7/02

Ecstasy price drops
Health, Teenagers, Percentages
New statistics show that the price of the drug ecstasy has more than halved. Just £1.25 will buy a tab of ecstasy in some parts of the north and west of England, while the average price in other areas is just £3. This drop in price is fuelling concerns about the drug's increasing accessibility to children. As the popularity of 'E' declines in clubs, dealers are seeking new markets among younger users. Last week's Government figures shows an alarming increase in drug use among 11 year-olds in England and Wales. 6% of this age group have taken drugs last year, compared to 1% in 1997.

				Independent 28/7/02