Foreign Students Cram Classes

Switzerland schools are beginning to overcrowd with students from different countries and officials are wondering if they should raise school tuition to theses foreigners.

Overseas students flock to Swiss universities in hope of a better education than their home country can provide as well as the attractive low fees, on average SFr1,500 ($1,400).

According to Swissinfo.ch with statistics that show foreigners attending Swiss schools with bachelor and master degrees are at around 19-20 percent. As well as almost 50 percent of those students in the doctorate programs are foreigners, Swiss officials are wondering if boosting the tuition prices is really what they need.

“The advantage is that there is more competition, we hope to bring in excellent students which improve quality and there is an international atmosphere and culture which is also a benefit to our Swiss students,” said Rector Dieter Wüest.

“On the other hand we have to take care that we don’t exceed our capacities,” he told swissinfo.ch

Switzerland Blacklists 188 Libyans

Switzerland and Libyan are now in a heated debate over why the Swiss government blacklisted 188 Libyans from obtaining a Schengen visa.

A Schengen visa allows for travel between European countries. Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline-Calmy Rey talked Feb. 18 with Libyan's Minister, days after the officials had blocked the visas to citizens of the 25-nation Schengen area.

Switzerland has been accused of abusing the visa system and has been told that it needs to get rid of the blacklist. Italy and Multa have strong econimic ties with Libya so they are pushing for this issue to be resolved in a timely manor.

The Swiss News Agency reported, European Union officials hope the conflict can be resolved “in the next 48 hours.”

Globalization creates problems for Swizz Bank

Information on at least 1,500 Swizz Bank clients has been stolen. The accounts combined amounts are €2.5 million (SFr 3.7 million) and Swizz investigators are saying this information could net €100 million in undeclared tax money.

With new technology comes new problems, more and more governments are on the watch safe-guarding their information as much as possible. Hackers are continually finding new ways around firewalls protecting the most sensitive information and then selling this stolen information to the highest bidder.

"From a law-abiding point of view it is “shocking” that the German government wants to buy the stolen goods," writes commentator Patrick Feuz in Bern’s Der Bund newspaper.

With the world growing smaller countries are pressured to all play on the same level, even if it means giving up their citizens personal financial information.

Switzerland senses new climate change

The Aletsch glacier in Switzerland is the largest glacier in the Alps but scientist are wonder if it is going to stay that way with the predicament of global warming shrinking this beautiful ice river.

Acorrding to Swissinfo.ch the glacier spans more than 23 kilometers and is up to 900 meter thick in some parts, it really is a aw-inspiring site.

From the village of Fiesch in the Rhone valley you can take a cable car over the river and up to Eggishorn where you are rewarded with a breathtaking view of the Aletsch glacier 2,500 meters below. The river can be seen from start to finish where it's mouth opens flowing into one of Europe's major waterways, the Rhone River.

It is at the mouth of the river where most of the action is happening and scientists are buzzing around taking measurements. The scientist are measuring the receding glacier which they refer to as the tongue. It is by measuring this tongue that scientist can check how much the ice is melting and the effect that global warming is having on this frozen river. Measurements are carried out by the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and they have calculated that the glacier weighs 27 billion tons and is getting smaller at the mouth.

Andreas Bauter, a glaciologist at the ETHZ told swissinfo.ch. On such a huge glacier as the Aletsch, the tongue reacts very slowly.

“The impact of occurrences in the lower parts of the glacier can quickly be seen at the tongue, but it takes about 50 years for signals from the Jungfraujoch to show up there,” he explained.

Overall, he explained that retreat in the ice tongue is due to the climate change from global warming.

More and more people around the world are seeing the effects of global warming. Action must be taken now before it is too late.