Written By: John Henrik Clarke (May 1988)

1. The early beginningsIt can be said with a strong degree of certainty that Africa has had three Golden Ages. The first two reached their climax and were in decline before Europe as a functioning entity in human society was born. Africa’s first Golden Age began at the beginning—with the birth of man and the development of organized societies. It is general conceded in most scholarly circles that mankind originated in Africa; this makes the African man the father and the African woman the mother of mankind.

In his book The Progress and Evolution of Man in Africa, Dr. L.S.B. Leakey states that:

In every country that one visits and where one is drawn into a conversation about Africa, the question is regularly asked, by people who should know better: “But what has Africa contributed to world progress?” The critics of Africa forget that men of science today, with few exceptions, are satisfied that Africa was the birthplace of man himself, and that for many hundreds of centuries thereafter, Africa was in the forefront of all human progress.

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The number of British students enrolling at UK universities has stalled while those coming to study from overseas has continued to rise, according to latest official figures released today.The statistics will dampen government hopes of reaching its target of 50% of all 18 to 30-year-olds having a university education by 2010, and suggest that UK universities are now looking abroad to boost their numbers - and income.

There was a 7% rise in non-EU overseas students enrolling in a UK university between the academic years 2005/06 and 2006/07 and a 6% increase in EU students coming to the UK to study.

During the same period the number of UK domiciled students going to university remained the same at two million, according to the statistics released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa).

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My mom always told me that we could never measure our wealth by money but by our friends. She would surely be glad to meet you and know how rich I turned out to be!

I’m glad friendship doesn’t come with price tags. For if it does, I’d never afford someone as great as you.

God in heaven, God above, please protect the friend I love. Sent with a smile, sealed with a kiss, I love my friend who’s reading this.

The nicest place these days is right beside your friends.

A friend is sweet when it is new. And it is sweeter when it is true. But you know what? It is sweetest when it is you.

A coin is easy to earn, a friend is hard to find. The coin depreciates but a friend appreciates. I lost a coin when I texted you, but it’s okay because I got you.

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Immigration law reforms due to be introduced next year will put off lucrative foreign students, warn vice-chancellors

Universities will lose tens of millions of pounds in funding when tough new immigration laws are introduced next year, according to the man who represents the UK’s vice-chancellors.

Professor Rick Trainor, president of Universities UK, said the new immigration system, which will make the process of gaining visas more cumbersome, will deter foreign students and seriously damage Britain’s standing in the world of higher education.

He says it will mean heavy losses for universities: international students bring £5bn into the UK each year. ‘Our concerns are focused on the significant new costs and administrative burdens these proposals will place on universities,’ said Trainor, principal of Kings College London.

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Have you ever wondered why Online grew so fast recently for so many students?

I’ve found that from the hundreds of adults I’ve taught Online … the more successful learners tend to reboot their brains for the unique Ecourses. It’s true that only about 60% of those who begin a program finish it, but those who do graduate, use more brain friendly strategies. For instance, they …

1). Avoid panic and tend to ease their way into new landscapes in smaller steps.

2). Engage alternative ideas … and learn from others who share opposite viewpoints, especially on controversial topics.

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Excerpted from a keynote speech delivered by Philip Emeagwali at the African Diaspora Conference in Tucson, Arizona on September 29, 2007

According to history books, gun-wielding European slave traders kidnapped one in five Africans and transported them across the oceans to the Americas. A less visible, but no means less drastic technological tool of suppression, is the compass, a device used worldwide for navigation. In the same way that Britain used its maritime knowledge and the US harnessed its intellectual capital to rule the world, the early slave traders used the simple compass to wreak havoc on civilization.

It is a sad fact that the innocuous navigation tool originated during and was fuelled by the Atlantic slave trade. The technological development of the innocent compass, invented in China for religious divination 2,000 years ago, allowed Africa to be ravaged in unspeakable ways.

It was the compass that created the Atlantic slave trade, enabling the early colonial navigators — and their blood merchants — to chart an accurate course from Gorée Island, off the coast of Senegal, to Brazil; paving the way for the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which began on August 8, 1444. This trade in human merchandise covered four continents and lasted four centuries, and serves as a shameful beacon for the depravity of human greed and conquest.

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