Take the Plane
At the same time the government has drastically cut back
subsidies for student train-ticket discounts, NSB (The Norwegian
Rail System) has reduced the number of reduced-fare or «green»
departures on the Bergen-Oslo line to practically nothing.
Starting 1 January of this year, the student-discount on reduced
-fare days went down from 60 to only 50 percent, and on normal
days from 40 to a mere 10 percent. In reality this amounts
to a near doubling of ticket prices for students traveling
between Oslo and Bergen.
Flunked
First-year psychology and law students have the dubious
honor of having achieved the highest failure rate on their
final exams last fall. Students taking English didn’t
fare much better. For example, among first-year psychology
students, 36 percent failed.
– This is about what it normally is. Many students start
out by taking basic first-year (grunnfag) courses at UiB,
only to find out that the university is quite a bit more difficult
than high school. Unfortunately, we don’t have the resources
to follow up on these students. The number of students has
increased dramatically over the last ten years, while resources
have basically gone unchanged, Assistant professor in psychology,
Wibecke Brun, says.
Bargain-basement Education
Now you needn’t stress about paying back your student
loan, attending courses or taking finals. Web sites like Fakedegrees.com
make it possible to become, for example, a «trained»
journalist, without ever having written a single article.
All you need is money. It’s possible to buy practically
any degree you want.
This web site boasts of the authentic appearance of the papers,
and goes on to mention that employers will find it difficult
to spot them as fakes. The site does, however, caution against
using their product to commit fraud. It is only a question
of typing in your name, which school you attended, and your
course of studies, and for just $75, everything, including
an attractively framed diploma, will be sent to your home
address. At UiB about one student per year is caught trying
to use falsified papers.
RUSSEL SHULER
23.01.02
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