뉴스&스피킹(영자신문)
하루 10분이면 영어에 대한 두려움을 극복하고 누구나 유창하게 영어를 구사하실 수 있습니다.
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Top US Colleges Will Cost $90,000 or More; Most Students Pay Less Harvard University says its cost of attendance will be $91,000 next year. But the school notes that the average cost for families is only $13,000 and many pay nothing at all. Harvard can support many of its students because its endowment is more than $50 billion, the largest of any university in the U.S.
The College Board is a nonprofit education organization that conducts the SAT college admission test. The group’s research shows the average cost at private colleges and universities last year was $60,000. At public colleges and universities, the cost was $29,000 for students from the same state; it was $47,000 for out-of-state students.
Kantrowitz said that although many receive financial aid, most students still need an additional $10,000 for college each year. “So families are forced to borrow that money or come up with that money from some other source,” he added.
Even with the rising costs, Kantrowitz said he believes college is still a good investment – as long as borrowing does not get out of control and students complete their studies.
He warns, “if you drop out, you have the debt, but not the degree that can help you repay the debt.”
I’m Dan Friedell.View -
Study Aims to Find Out Why Some People Are Left-handed What do Lady Gaga, Barack Obama, and Bill Gates have in common – aside from their fame? They are all left-handed.
But why are 10 percent of people left-handed while most are right-handed?
Researchers are trying to find out.
A recent study identified a genetic cause of left-handedness in some people. Researchers found rare variants of a gene involved in controlling the shape of cells. They found the variants to be 2.7 times more common in left-handed people.
These genetic variants account for possibly 0.1 percent of left-handedness. But the researchers said a gene, called TUBB4B, might play a part in the development of brain asymmetry.
In most people, the two halves, or hemispheres, of the brain have slightly different structures and are dominant for different activities.
"For example, most people have left-hemisphere dominance for language, and right-hemisphere dominance for tasks that require directing visual attention to a location in space," said Clyde Francks of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands. Francks was the top writer of the study published recently in Nature Communications.
Francks suggested that for most people, the left side of the brain controls the dominant right hand. "The nerve fibers cross from left-to-right in the lower part of the brain,” Francks said. He added, “In left-handers, the right hemisphere is in control of the dominant hand. The question is: what causes the asymmetry of the brain to develop differently in left-handers?"
TUBB4B controls a protein that gets formed into filaments called microtubules. These microtubules give structure to the insides of cells. The changes in TUBB4B that are more common in left-handers suggest that microtubules are involved in setting up the brain's normal asymmetries, Francks said.
The two brain hemispheres start to develop differently in the human embryo. Scientists do not know the mechanism that controls this.
"Rare genetic variants in just a handful of people can pinpoint genes that give clues to developmental mechanisms of brain asymmetry in everyone," Francks added. TUBB4B is an example.
The study’s findings were based on genetic data from more than 350,000 middle-aged to older adults in Britain. It was from the UK Biobank. About 11 percent of the people involved were left-handed.
For most people, left- or right-handedness might come down to chance. Changes in the levels of some molecules during important times of brain development could influence it, Francks suggested.
Historically, many cultures disapproved of left-handedness and forced people to become right-handed.
In English, the word "right" also means "correct" or "proper." And the expression a "left-handed compliment" means that a comment might seem nice but is an insult.
The levels of left-handedness differ around the world, with lower rates in Africa, Asia and the Middle East compared to Europe and North America, Francks said.
"This likely reflects suppression of left-handedness in some cultures - making left-handed kids switch to right-handedness, which also used to happen in Europe and North America," Francks added.
The new findings might have use in the field of mental health. People with schizophrenia are around twice as likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous. People with autism are around three times as likely, Francks said.
He observed that genes involved in developing the brain in early life might be involved in brain asymmetry and mental health.
"Our study found suggestive evidence of this, and we have also seen it in previous studies where we looked at more common genetic variants in the population," Francks added.
I’m John Russell.View -
Vatican Opposes Sex Change Operations, Surrogacy The Roman Catholic Church has declared its opposition to sex change operations and surrogacy. The Vatican said those activities violate human dignity. It compared them to abortion and euthanasia, saying they reject God’s plan for human life.
The Vatican issued a 20-page declaration called Infinite Dignity. The document took five years to produce. It came four months after conservatives reacted to Pope Francis’s support for same-sex partners.
Sex change
Supporters of “gender theory” say that gender is more complex than male and female. They say a person’s sex depends on more than sexual qualities that can be seen. In the document, the Vatican repeats its rejection of “gender theory,” or the idea that a person’s gender can be changed.
It says God created man and woman as biologically different, separate beings, and said people must not change that plan or try to “make oneself God.”
“It follows that any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception,” the document says.
It notes the difference between gender-changing surgeries, which it rejects, and medical operations to correct “genital abnormalities” that are present at birth or that develop later. It says, "Such a medical procedure would not constitute a sex change…”
Supporters for LGBTQ+ Catholics criticized the document as outdated and harmful. They warned it could lead to violence and discrimination against transgendered people.
In the United States, Republican-led legislatures are considering bills to restrict sex change operations on children.
Francis DeBernardo is with the New Ways Ministry, which supports LGBTQ+ Catholics. He said as the document talks about respect, honor and love for human life, “it does not apply this principle to gender-diverse people.”
Surrogacy
The Vatican also declared opposition to surrogacy, the practice of implanting a fertilized egg in a woman to carry a fetus for someone else usually for money.
The document calls the practice “deplorable,” saying it violates “the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs.”
It quotes Pope Francis as saying, “A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract. Consequently, I express my hope for an effort by the international community to prohibit this practice universally.”
The document restates the well-known Catholic position in opposing to abortion, a medical operation to end a pregnancy, and assisted suicide or euthanasia.
Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez said in a statement that Pope Francis approved the document after requesting that it also include "poverty, the situation of migrants, violence against women, human trafficking, war, and other themes.”
I’m Mario Ritter, JrView -
Officials Plan to End Monkey Invasion in Thai City Wildlife officials in Thailand released a plan on Wednesday to bring peace to a central city after at least 10 years of human-monkey conflict.
The macaques that live in Lopburi are a symbol of local culture and a major tourist attraction. But there have been years of dangerous interactions between humans and the monkeys. Past attempts to control the monkey population have failed. Local people and businesses say they have had enough.
The monkeys often try to take food from humans, injuring them in the process. Most injuries are minor. But two serious monkey attacks took place last month. A monkey pulled a woman down to the ground when trying to take her food. The woman suffered a serious knee injury. In the other attack, a hungry monkey pushed a man off a motorcycle.
Officials hope to capture 2,500 of the monkeys and place them in large enclosures, said Athapol Charoenshunsa. He is the director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. They will work with wildlife experts to find a way for a limited number of monkeys to stay in the city, he added.
“I don’t want humans to have to hurt monkeys, and I don’t want monkeys to have to hurt humans,” he told reporters in Bangkok.
An official monkey catching campaign was launched week. The officials’ main concern is aggressive alpha males. Workers have caught 37 monkeys so far. Most of those animals were placed under the care of wildlife officials in the nearby province of Saraburi. Others were sent to the Lopburi zoo.
Officials said they plan to capture more monkeys once the enclosures are complete. Separate cages will be prepared for different troops of monkeys to prevent them from fighting.
Athapol said the large cages will be able to contain thousands of them and “will solve the problem very quickly.”
The monkeys are a symbol of the province, about 140 kilometers north of Bangkok. There, the ancient Three Pagodas temple, celebrates a yearly “Monkey Buffet” festival. Macaques are considered a protected species under Thailand’s wildlife conservation law.
Some have blamed the city's monkey troubles on tourists and local people feeding the animals. They say feeding them led more monkeys to enter the city in search of food.
But an earlier effort to limit feeding may have made things worse, some locals say. City officials in recent years ordered fines against people caught feeding monkeys in several areas around the main tourist sites. But those feeding areas were controlled by a few troops of the highly territorial macaques. Competing groups grew hungry and increasingly sought food from humans in other areas.
Athapol said people should not consider the monkeys as villains. He said officials might have not moved quickly enough to control the monkey population.
People also need to adapt to the city’s monkeys, said Phadej Laithong. He is director of the Wildlife Conservation Office. He explained that a lack of natural food sources leads the animals to find food wherever they can, including from humans.
Past control measures have fallen short. From 2014 to 2023, the wildlife officials neutered about 2,600 Lopburi monkeys.
Athapol said they are also working in other areas of Thailand that are facing problems with monkeys. He said 52 of the country's 77 provinces often report of problems from monkeys.
I’m Dan Novak.View -
Clothing Industry Wonders about Effect of AI on Models Alexsandrah is a fashion model in London. She has a twin.
But her twin is not her sister.
The twin is a product of Artificial Intelligence, or AI.
Whenever Alexsandrah is not available to work with a photographer, the virtual twin takes her place.
When a company chooses to use the AI Alexsandrah, the real-life version gets paid. Alexsandrah said her AI twin is exactly like her.
Alexandrah’s twin is an example of how computer images are influencing creative industries.
Those in favor of using AI in fashion say the virtual models permit companies to show possible buyers how their clothing looks on people of all shapes and sizes. In the real world, it would be difficult and costly to find a model for every skin color and body shape.
The companies that make clothing say using AI prevents people from buying their products, trying them on at home, and then sending them back if they dislike them. The problem is that AI models can take work away from human models, makeup artists and photographers.
Criticism of the fashion industry
The fashion industry has often been criticized for using models who are only white or tall or who fit one idea of beauty. Activists for including many groups in fashion say some companies could seem like they are employing minorities when they are just using AI models.
Sara Ziff is a former fashion model who started Model Alliance, a nonprofit group for workers’ rights in the fashion industry. Ziff said the use of AI shows there is a difference between the industry’s words and its actions.
Levi Strauss is an American clothing company known for its blue jeans. In March 2023, the company said it would be testing AI-generated models from a company in Amsterdam. The aim was to show how its clothing fit people of all sizes. But after criticism, the company said it would not reduce its use of human models.
Levi Strauss said it would not “substitute” AI for action toward its “diversity, equity and inclusion goals.”
The Associated Press (AP) recently asked some clothing businesses to state their position on the use of AI models. AP asked Target, Kohls, Nieman Marcus, Walmart and Macys. It also asked international companies Temu, Shein and H&M. Some chose not to answer. Others said they do not use AI models. Walmart said it does not use AI models but “suppliers may have a different approach to photography.”
Lalaland.ai creates AI models. Michael Musandu started the company. Musandu grew up in Africa and studied in the Netherlands. He started the company when he saw that not many models looked like him – Black and African.
“One model does not represent everyone that’s actually shopping and buying a product,” he said. “As a person of color, I felt this painfully myself.”
Musandu said he is seeing a demand for his services, but his product is designed to supplement traditional photography not replace it. The goal is to help a buyer make better decisions and reduce product returns and waste.
In addition, he said, the company creates new jobs for computer programmers, who train the systems that create the models.
“If brands are serious about inclusion efforts, they will continue to hire these models of color,” Musandu said.
Industry pioneers
Others in the fashion industry are fully using AI. Cameron Wilson is a former fashion photographer who started a company in Britain called The Diigitals. Wilson, who is white, designed a Black, female model named Shudu in 2017. Wilson was criticized for creating a Black model. But Shudu was used in jobs for companies like Louis Vuitton and BMW. It also helped the human model Alexsandrah. She has worked in fashion shows as a real-life version of the AI model.
Alexsandrah said she is proud of her work that has come from The Diigitals. “The future generations can look back at and be like, ‘These are the pioneers,’” she said.
Other models are not feeling so good about AI. Yve Edmond works as a “fit model.” She tries on clothes for companies who want to see how their designs fit a real person. She worries that the AI modeling companies are using images and videos of real people to train their systems. She calls that a violation because humans are not being paid for their part in the technology.
Edmond said she was called for a photo session, but there were no new clothes. She was asked to move her body in certain ways and walk for a recording. The client said it was “research.” Edmond said she felt “swindled.”
Unlike film actors and writers, who went on strike to protest the use of AI without a legal agreement, there are no similar labor groups for models.
Ziff, of Model Alliance, is pushing for labor laws for fashion workers. The state of New York is working on the Fashion Workers Act. The law would include laws related to models who are used in AI. A model would need to give written permission to a company that planned to use AI to create a computer image of the model. The contract would show the pay rate and the length of time that the replica could be used.
For AI and the fashion business, it is still early. Ziff compared it to a time of lawlessness in the early American West. Alexsandrah said she believes AI is helping her career—with the right rules. But Edmond is not so sure about AI.
She said Earth has “a person of every shade, every height, every size. Why not find that person and compensate that person?”
I’m Dan Friedell. And I’m Gena Bennett.View