Survey finds math, science grads earn top dollar

WASHINGTON -- It seems to matter less whether your alma mater is public or private than what you study — math and science in particular — when it comes to finding a high-paying job after college, according to a report released Tuesday by the Education Department.

The survey of the class of 2008, by the National Center for Education Statistics, provides an interesting snapshot of the nation's educated elite following a crushing economic recession: Overall, college grads reported lower unemployment rates compared with the national average, although black and Asian college graduates were twice as likely to be out of work than their white classmates. College grads from private four-year schools earned about the same as those from public four-year schools, about $50,000 a year.

But while a paltry 16 percent of students took home degrees in science, technology, engineering or math, those who did were paid significantly better — averaging $65,000 a year compared with $49,500 of graduates of other degrees.

The findings are based on a survey of 17,110 students conducted in 2012, about four years after the students obtained their bachelor's degrees.

The survey found a strong correlation between earning money and highly specialized degrees. More than 95 percent of grads who studied computer and information sciences, for example, were employed full-time at the time of the survey and earned $72,600 on average. Engineering students reported similar job and salary prospects. That's compared with a humanities graduate who was more likely to report working multiple jobs and earn a full-time salary averaging only $43,100.

The report also pointed to a correlation between being white or Asian and male and having a higher salary.

Asian graduates reported earning more than other ethnicities, averaging $62,500 in full-time jobs compared with $47,300 earned by Hispanics, $48,800 by blacks and $52,400 by whites. Likewise, male grads reported earning more — $57,800 on average — than their female classmates in full-time jobs, who averaged $47,400.

The study doesn't explain the disparities in pay, which could be attributed to different fields of study.

Among other findings in the report:

—The average unemployment rate among the graduates was 6.7 percent, compared with the 8.1 percent national unemployment rate at the time of the survey. Unemployment rates were very low for students who studied computer and information sciences or engineering, but jump for those with degrees in social sciences or general humanities.

—Most graduates avoided marriage and kids in the four years after obtaining a degree. Only 19.6 percent reported having both.

—The average salary of students graduating from for-profit four-year institutions was slightly higher than their nonprofit counterparts: $62,900 compared with $50,700 for public school grads and $53,700 for private school grads. But the unemployment rate among for-profit schools was higher at 12 percent, compared with the 6.2 percent graduating from public schools.

These disparities could be attributed to the types of students who attend for-profit schools. Often highly specialized, for-profit schools often attract students who already have work experience but lost a job or want to earn more money.

Chinese scenic spot plans to sue over Transformers

BEIJING -- A company that operates a scenic landscape area in southwest China which features in the latest "Transformers" movie says it will sue its producers for breach of contract.

It is the second Chinese company to make public a dispute with Paramount Pictures over "Transformers: Age of Extinction," which heavily courts the Chinese audience with Chinese locations, actors and products and is on track to become China's biggest-ever grossing movie.

The Chongqing Wulong Karst Tourism Co. Ltd. said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Tuesday that the producers had failed to show its logo prominently in the movie as promised. As a result, it is not clear to viewers that the shots of the scenic spot in the movie are of Wulong, because they are interspersed with scenes from Hong Kong, and other tourist spots are claiming the karst peaks are theirs, it added.

It said it would file a suit at a court in Chongqing city demanding unspecified damages against Paramount Pictures and Beijing-based 1905 Internet Technology Company, one of the movie's Chinese partners. Wulong said it wanted measures taken to mitigate the damage and compensation for direct and indirect economic losses.

Paramount didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 1905 said in a statement on its website that Wulong had not paid them on time.

Last month, a Beijing property developer said it had filed a lawsuit alleging that Paramount and two of its Chinese associates had failed to deliver on pledges to hold the movie premiere at its hotel and feature images of its property in trailers and movie posters. Soon after the developer and Paramount said they had smoothed out the dispute.

The latest dispute comes as China overtook the U.S. in "Transformers" box office earnings. According to the box office tracking website Box Office Mojo, the movie had earned $213 million in China and $175 million in the U.S. as of Sunday. It was released on the same day in both markets.

The movie is expected to become China's highest-grossing movie early this week. Currently, the 2010 movie "Avatar" holds that accolade, having made $218 million in China.

"Transformers" has been helped by a favorable screening in China, with over half of all screens showing the film at the beginning of its release.

While the first three "Transformers" movies were already good earners in China, director Michael Bay heavily courted the Chinese audience in his latest by employing Chinese stars and basing part of the action in Chinese cities. While this interested many local movie goers, some criticized its numerous product placements, including Chinese liquor and milk.

A commentary in the Beijing Times on Monday said Hollywood movies do not have to "flatter" Chinese viewers and audiences would rather watch an "interesting story than various sorts of product placements."

Sterling ordered to testify at Clippers sale trial

LOS ANGELES -- Donald Sterling, who's challenging his wife's $2 billion deal to sell the Los Angeles Clippers, was ordered to testify after he skipped the opening of the case.

Sterling was ordered to appear for Tuesday afternoon's hearing after he couldn't be found Monday. Instead, the first testimony came from a neurologist who concluded that the 80-year-old team owner had Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Meril Sue Platzer testified that she was hired by Sterling's wife, Shelly, to evaluate him and made the diagnosis based on two brain scans and a two-hour interview at his home with his wife and an attorney present.

"After it was over," she said. "I told him and Mrs. Sterling that he probably has Alzheimer's."

"What was his reaction?" asked Pierce O'Donnell, an attorney for Sterling's wife.

"I'm hungry. I want to eat," Platzer said.

Shelly Sterling "was taken aback, shocked and very concerned for her husband," the doctor said.

Sterling's lawyers have argued that he's perfectly capable of handling decisions and that his wife had no authority to unilaterally reach a deal to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

They tried to get a federal judge to switch the probate case to federal court — which would have delayed it — but the motion was rejected Monday. The motion argued that Sterling's federal medical privacy rights were violated because the records were disclosed to his wife and the public.

His lawyers also have argued that Sterling agreed to be mentally evaluated by two doctors under false pretenses, being unaware that the results would be used for legal purposes and thinking it was because of his wife's concern for his health.

Platzer testified that she wasn't told that her evaluation was in connection with the Clippers sale and that she was hired after Shelly Sterling viewed her husband's sometimes-rambling television interview with Anderson Cooper.

Sterling's attorneys also have argued that the exams and letters regarding his mental capacity were defective and incomplete, and that there was conspiracy to sell the team without his consent.

The NBA has moved to oust Sterling because of racist remarks he made to a girlfriend.

"The NBA wants to get rid of my client," Sterling attorney Gary Ruttenberg said in court. "They were colluding with Mrs. Sterling and her counsel to do this."

His wife's lawyers claim Donald Sterling has been engaging in tactics to run out the clock on the Clippers sale.

NBA owners are scheduled to vote on the deal on July 15. It's also the day that Ballmer's offer is set to expire — and there is no deal without the judge's approval of the sale.

If the sale isn't completed by Sept. 15, the league said it could seize the team and put it up for auction.

"He will pull out all the stops to prevent the sale from going forward," O'Donnell told Judge Michael Levanas.

German exports, imports disappoint in May

BERLIN -- German exports fell more than expected in May while imports dropped sharply, adding to data that point to a weak second quarter for Europe's biggest economy and also pushing up the country's trade surplus.

The Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday that exports were down 1.1 percent compared with the previous month, a steeper drop than the 0.4 percent decline economists expected. Imports fell 3.4 percent.

Germany's May trade surplus was 18.8 billion euros ($25.6 billion), up from 17.7 billion euros in April.

Germany's economy grew a robust 0.8 percent in the first quarter compared with the previous three-month period, but disappointing recent data have fed expectations of slower second-quarter growth.

Factory orders and industrial production in May were below expectations amid slowing growth in China and tensions over Ukraine.

Six-year-old killed in hit-and-run in n.Lebanon

BEIRUT: A six-year-old Syrian refugee girl has died after she was hit by a vehicle in the northern Lebanese village of Mhamara Tuesday.

A security source identifed the girl as al-Zaher Mohammad al-Jassem.

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US-China strategic talks get test this week

BEIJING -- The United States and China will spend time over the next couple of days testing whether their annual "Strategic and Economic Dialogue" can produce tough compromises or just serve as a venue to talk about greater cooperation.

The Obama administration comes with a clear set of priorities to this year's meeting in the Chinese capital: closer coordination against climate change, an end to Chinese industrial cyber-espionage and stricter rules governing maritime claims in Asia's contested, resource-rich seas.

But it's unclear whether Washington will be able to forge an effective agreement with Beijing in any of these areas.

All told, the two sides will canvass 60 topics when they meet Tuesday night through Thursday. Economic friction centers on the valuation of China's currency and claims by American companies of unfair market restrictions in China. Strategic discussions include the threat posed by nuclear-armed North Korea.

U.S.-China gatherings in recent years have vacillated between icy and warm. The dialogue two years ago in Beijing weathered the escape from house arrest by Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng and a U.S. decision to grant him asylum. Last year in California, President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to establish "a new model of major power relations."

Yet on many issues, the U.S. and China are mired in disagreement, reflecting natural friction between an established superpower and an emerging one.

The United States, with the world's biggest economy and strongest military, will be led this week by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

China's economy is set to surpass the U.S. in the coming decades and its armed forces are rapidly gaining strength. It will be represented by foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, the top American diplomat for Asia outlined one area where he hoped to see progress: the restart of a cybersecurity working group that China shut down after the U.S. indicted five Chinese military officers. The Obama administration accused the officers of hacking into American companies' computers to steal trade secrets. China demanded the charges be withdrawn; it has no plans to extradite the men.

Such behavior from China "risks undermining the support for the U.S.-China relationship among the U.S. and international business community," Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel said. He said Beijing must address the problem of cyber-espionage.

China isn't playing ball. Its communist government has fumed since the indictments were unsealed in May, ending talks that the U.S. had hailed as a diplomatic coup when they were set up after Obama's summit with Xi. Obama is expected to visit China again later this year.

With no cybersecurity breakthrough likely, senior U.S. officials traveling on Kerry's plane refused to outline what would constitute a successful result this week.

Instead, they stressed the long-term importance of the two countries working through their differences for the stability of each, and the rest of the world, noting how several issues have been settled over time.

For example, the proliferation of Chinese nuclear technology, a serious worry in the 1990s, is no longer a central U.S. concern.

The last year has been difficult for U.S.-Chinese cooperation. Beyond the cyber-hacking dispute, ties are strained by Beijing's actions in the South and East China seas.

American allies Japan and the Philippines, as well as Vietnam, have become increasingly worried by Chinese efforts to drill for oil or assert authority in waters they consider their own. China also has tried to enforce control over contested airspace.

A U.S. push to get China to agree with its neighbors on rules to settle territorial disputes has gained no ground, with Beijing dismissive of what it sees as American interference in its internal and regional affairs.

Progress this week could come on climate issues, said the U.S. officials, who weren't authorized to speak publicly by name on the talks and demanded anonymity.

The U.S. and China have battled for years over how to rein in carbon emissions. While an accord is improbable on that front, the officials were optimistic of new cooperation on clean energy. They didn't elaborate.

They also suggested a toughening Chinese attitude emerging toward North Korea, given Xi's recent visit to South Korea. China could still oppose any harsh criticism of its ally in the joint statement expected at the end of the meeting.