New Gotthard Rail Tunnel Set To Open in Under One Year; Broadcast License Revamp Referendum In a Week; High School Students Cheating Ring Exposed; Drama At Basel Construction Site

  News On 9 June 2015     If you've ever had the misfortune of wading through holiday traffic at the Gotthard tunnel, you'll want to bookmark a new website Gottardo2016.ch.  It is there that you will find the countdown clock for the official opening of the new Gotthard base rail tunnel which promises to significantly reduce travel time by train through the Gotthard pass.  Set to open in under a year, the 57 kilometer train tunnel will be the longest in the world when it goes into operation: longer than the Channel Tunnel connecting the UK and France, and the Japanese Seikan Tunnel which links the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido.  The scale of the project is unparalleled as well: plans for it were drawn up close to 70 years ago, and construction only began in 1998, with the final tunnel boring completed in late 2010.  Once the tunnel opens, its expected to handle upwards of 300 trains per day and reducing travel times between Zurich, Lugano and Milan and onward destinations by as much as 45 minutes.  Ceremonies and festivals are also being planned at both ends of the tunnel for the official opening on the 4th and 5th of June 2016, with 50,000 - 100,000 visitors expected.   *************************************   One of the surprising nuisances that expats find upon settling in Switzerland is the inevitable, annual broadcast license fee, or Billag, invoice which arrives by mail.  The license costs just over 450 francs per annum per household and is used to fund radio and television broadcasting in the four official languages in Switzerland.  And lest you think you are exempt simply because you don't watch or listen to any of the local language broadcasts on a television or radio at home, you are in fact liable, by simply having a device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer.  Arriving Expats are typically registered for Billag automatically while establishing residency with their local Gemeinde.  In an effort to reduce this cost to an estimated 400 per year without compromising the budget, a proposal that has come up for referendum will seek to spread the burden.  if the referendum passes on June 14, those owning second Swiss residences will also be put on the rolls of those required to pay the license for their second home.  In addition, businesses with revenues over 500,000 swiss francs will also chip-in with their share.  Arguments for the referendum are that virtually everyone can now receive the broadcasts because of the proliferation of tunable devices and the internet, implying everyone should pay, which would simplify and reduce the costs per capita.  The primary arguments against the proposal is that its an unfair tax on two fronts: 1) people are compelled to pay for something they may not want and 2) when taxing corporations people pay once at home and once again via their employer at work.  Political analysts don't see strong support for the issue on either side making the outcome unpredictable.  Stay TUNED for the results next Monday.   ***********************************************   12 students of the Basel WirtschaftGymnasium or Business and Economics secondary school have been suspended for a year for cheating on their final exams.  Apparently, the students managed to access the email accounts of their teachers and subsequently found what they thought were copies of their final examinations. It is not yet know how the students managed to get the access exactly. However, the tests they accessed also came with sample solutions.  It was these sample solutions which raised suspicions, when the students used them when taking the examinations.  The unique nature of the solutions and the fact that all of the students elected to use the same unique one, brought about the scrutiny of their teacher and the rector of the school.  The code of conduct of the school required that the students, who all confessed when confronted fail the test.  A further consequence now is that the students will not be allowed to graduate and will also be suspended for a year before being allowed to sit for the exams again and finally graduate.  Many peers feel the punishment is not sufficient considering the blow to the school's reputation, and had hoped the students would be expelled outright.  More generally, the issue of secured IT systems for educators is now at the forefront.  Just last week a student at the University of applied Sciences in St. Gallen was busted for putting key-logging software on a lecturer's computer with the intent of selling test solutions.  Sadly, most educators lament that the era when a school's code of conduct that all students know and are required to adhere is now history, and recommend encryption and information safety protocols for all instructors.   ******************************************

Grenzacherstrasse, the street that runs parallel alongside the Rhein from Kleinbasel into Germany has been under construction for close to a year now.  Unfortunately today, it was also the sight of some frayed nerves resulting from an errant excavator which broke a utility gas line at 10 this morning.  The excavator was digging in a trench about two feet deep when it hit the gas lines according to Peter Gill, prosecutor for Basel-Stadt who addressed the incident at a press conference later in the day.  More than 100 people were evacuated from surrounding buildings and BVB bus service along the road was temporarily suspended for safety reasons.  The private fire brigade of Roche, whose headquarters are in close proximity to the accident were also notified.  Officials were quick to dismiss any connection between this incident and the construction on Roche's nearby campus.  The gas line was allowed to stay open despite the leak, as officials determined it was not a fire or explosion risk until such time as IWB, the local utility can completely disable the affected service lines.  In the meantime the fire department dispatched equipment to fog-spray the escaping gas.