The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 17 May 2013.
US: Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine give US$70 million to USC to establish new academy
Musical legends Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine have donated US$70 million to the University of Southern California. The money will be used to fund the creation of the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. The academy is intended to serve undergraduates with a diverse range of interests – as you might have gathered from the name – with the aim of producing “a new generation of inspired innovators”, according to USC News. The US$70 million will go some way to helping USC reach its target of raising US$6 billion over the next few years. Dr Dre shot to fame as part of the World Class Wreckin’ Cru and iconic rap group NWA, before establishing himself individually, helping to give the careers of artists such as Eminem and Snoop Dogg a kick start along the way. Jimmy Iovine is chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M and a producer, whose résumé includes Bruce Sprinsteen’s Born to Run and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.
China: World’s lightest substance created at Zhejiang University
Researchers at Zhejiang University have created the world’s lightest material. Carbon aerogel has a density of 0.16 mg/cubic centimeter; if that means nothing to you, think about this way – a mug’s worth of the stuff wouldn’t even cause a blade of grass to bend. The gel’s light density means that it can absorb 900 times its own weight, and its potential applications include soaking up oil spills, reports CBS News. Zhejiang University is one of China’s prestigious C9 Group of universities – think of it as a sort of Chinese Ivy League.
South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal to make Zulu language compulsory
The University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Durban, South Africa, is to make learning the Zulu language compulsory for all new students starting from next year. The university teaches in English, so students will need to be bilingual in order to graduate. This is the first instance of a South African university making an indigenous language compulsory. Zulu is the most widely spoken language in the country, reports The International Business Times. Nearly 50% of first-year students currently at the university speak Zulu at home, as do a total of 80% of people who live in the province in which it is based.
Global: Clark University study shows melting glaciers contributing to rising sea levels
The study by Clark University, which included the University of Colorado at Boulder, has found that, between 2003 and 2009, melting glacial regions across the world caused sea levels to rise by 0.7 millimeters a year. An average of 260 billion metric tons of ice were lost on average by every glacier outside of the Greenland and Antarctic sheets (in which 99% of the world’s land ice is locked). The biggest losses occurred in Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes and the Himalayas.
UK: Man gets two years in jail for attacking Oxford and Cambridge University websites
A man has been sentenced to two years in jail for hacking into the websites of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge early last year, causing them to temporarily go down. He also attacked the website of a regional police force. Lewys Martin pleaded guilty to the charges, which were deemed serious, as they could have led to the disclosure of sensitive information.