The Budget

Under the Presidentsbudget proposal, the maximum Pell Grant would increase by 14percent to $US4,600 next year, while the maximum AcademicCompetitiveness Grants for talented low-income studentswould increase by 50 percent to $1,125 for first-yearstudents and $1,950 for second-year. These Rosetta Stone outlet grants areawarded for what is described as strong or rigorous academicpreparation and achievement.The Budget will also provide$US24 million for a new grant programme aimed at increasingthe number of speakers of so-called critical languages and $US25 million for a study of a database that would trackthe educational progress of students. However,commercial lenders in the Federal Government'sguaranteed-loan programme would have their Federal subsidiesslashed for a third time in a year, this time by $18.8billion, meaning those costs would be passed to students.Several other higher-education, or student-loan, assistanceprogrammes will be cut.The President of the AmericanFederation of Teachers, Edward McElroy, said that, each yearsince taking office, the President has proposed a budgetthat ignores the needs of the vast majority of Americans andinstead lines the pockets of the ultra-rich. Thisyears budget is no exception, he said.From theChronicle of Higher Education and AFTUniversity to bangay marriages on campusAcademics and students atCanterbury Christ Church University in the United Kingdomsay they are shocked and incensed by a proposal to bancivil-partnership ceremonies on campus. The Vice-Chancellor,Chair of Governors and Deputy Rosetta Stone German Pro-Chancellor of theUniversity argue that the Churchs position onhomosexuality makes it wrong to conduct lesbian and gay marriages on the Universitys premises.Academicsand students say a ban would flout the institutionsequal-opportunities policy and damage its reputation, withrepresentatives of the staff and student unions calling onthe proponents of the plan to retract it immediately orresign. The University and College Union (UCU) hascriticised the Vice-Chancellor for the ban, saying theattitude of the senior officers at Canterbury Christ ChurchUniversity is inappropriate in a modern place of learning. Discrimination should have no place in a university andit will be opposed by UCU, in line with the law, saidRoger Kline, UCU Head of Equality and EmploymentRights.Canterbury Christ Church is one of elevenhigher-education institutions closely aligned with theChurch of England. The Church has declined to comment on theproposed ban until the University's governing body has madeits final decision. The office of the Archbishop ofCanterbury also declined to comment.From the EducationGuardian and UCUCrisis threatens Mathematics as RMITsheds staffA crisis threatening Mathematics departmentsin Australian universities is worsening, with MelbournesRMIT University set to make up to 25 percent of staff intheir Department of Mathematics redundant, according to theNational Tertiary Education Union (NTEU).The situationat RMIT comes amid renewed debate about the crisis facingMathematics and Science Rosetta Stone Greek departments in universities, with arecent report on the future of mathematical sciences inAustralia revealing substantial reductions in teaching andresearch staff in the nations top universities.