The price of gold continues to fluctuate because US "financial wizards" are still using the futures market to influence it. Also, huge amounts of capital have been reportedly withdrawn from the gold market and invested in shale gas to boost the natural gas industry. But, an article on www.gmw.cn says, can the so-called shale-gas revolution help the US dollar to remain strong? Excerpts:

American financial oligarchs are taking measures to suppress the price of gold mainly to maintain the value of the US dollar. Unlike gold, the dollar can be issued at will to suit economic needs. But this could easily lead to serious inflation.

Besides, the growing investment in shale gas, too, is responsible for a slump in the price of gold.

But American financial managers' plan to maintain the strength of the US dollar may not be successful in the end. If the abundant availability of shale gas causes supply to exceed demand and energy prices to decline, other countries will use the opportunity to increase their reserves of natural resources, including gold, forcing the US dollar to depreciate. Contrarily, if the investment in shale gas doesn't yield the expected results in the short term, commodity prices will increase sharply and the value of paper money, including the dollar, will decline.

American "financial wizards" should, therefore, respect the law of demand and supply to keep the dollar strong, instead of fiddling with financial tools to meet their ends.

Respect the spirit of education

Some high schools in Luohe city, Henan province, organized a students' tour to Xu Shen Cultural Park, where more than 1,100 students reportedly prayed to Xu Shen, the god of wisdom in Chinese legends, to help them clear the national college entrance exam. The incident shows that some schools are encouraging students to seek divine help to succeed in exams, which is shocking, says an article in Beijing Youth Daily. Excerpts:

Local school authorities say visits to places such as Xu Shen Cultural Park is to pay homage to ancient wise men as well as to provide spiritual comfort to students. But in reality such visits are an attempt to seek divine help for success in worldly matters like examinations.

It's a different matter when parents take their children to temples to pray for their success in exams. But when schools encourage such behavior, it goes against the spirit of education and competitiveness.

Besides, how could the Luohe school authorities be sure that all the students in the group that visited the Xu Shen Cultural Park to pray were believers?

Moreover, the primary responsibility of high schools is to impart education and help students develop independent personalities, and depend on their knowledge and competence for success in life. Since the college entrance exam is the first important step a student takes to enter the wider society, he/she should not depend on divine help to succeed in it.

The right thing for schools to do to solve students' psychological problems before exams would be to provide them with proper counseling and good guidance.

Some people may blame the college entrance exam for turning students into slaves of high scores. But to some extent, the utilitarian attitude of some school authorities is responsible for turning students into mechanical beings.

We should not forget that the goal of education is to cultivate all-round talents, and not to churn out graduates without self-confidence.