approach

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

A Targeted Approach To Canceling Student Loan Debt Could Help Certain Groups, But Will Barely Boost The Economy

William Chittenden, Texas State University At the end of June 2021, 43 million borrowers – or about 14% of all adults in the U.S. – owed approximately US$1.59 trillion in outstanding federal student loans. Although in many cases the media has focused on borrowers with extremely large balances – such as the orthodontist who owes over $1 million in student loans – the average balance is a more modest $39,351 per borrower with an average monthly payment of $393 per month. The standard repayment period for $39,351 in student loans is 20 years. The amount of student debt outstanding varies greatly based on the type of degree pursued. The average bachelor’s degree debt is under $29,000 while the average dental school debt is more than 10 times higher at over $290,000. In general, those who pur...

A New Approach Breaks A Barrier That’s Stood For Nearly Half A Century – Planning The Best Route With Multiple Destinations Is Hard Even For Supercomputers

Computers are good at answering questions. What’s the shortest route from my house to Area 51? Is 8,675,309 a prime number? How many teaspoons in a tablespoon? For questions like these, they’ve got you covered. There are certain innocent-sounding questions, though, that computer scientists believe computers will never be able to answer – at least not within our lifetimes. These problems are the subject of the P versus NP question, which asks whether problems whose solutions can be checked quickly can also be solved quickly. P versus NP is such a fundamental question that either designing a fast algorithm for one of these hard problems or proving you can’t would net you a cool million dollars in prize money. My favorite hard problem is the traveling salesperson problem. Given a collection...

Feeling overwhelmed? Approach coronavirus as a challenge to be met, not a threat to be feared

You have a choice to make when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. Do you treat this time as an insurmountable threat that pits you against everyone else? This option entails making decisions based solely on protecting yourself and your loved ones: stockpiling supplies regardless of what that leaves for others; continuing to host small gatherings because you’re personally at lower risk; or taking no precautions because the effort seems futile. Or do you treat the coronavirus as a collective challenge that will require shared sacrifices to achieve a difficult but not impossible goal? That option would mean taking recommended precautions: practicing social distancing, hand-washing and restricting travel. These actions might not be your most desired or convenient path as an individual, bu...