Student Union
Arkansas Professor Accused of Not Disclosing Ties to China
The University of Arkansas has suspended an electrical engineering professor without pay after he was arrested on an allegation that he failed to disclose that he had close ties with the Chinese government and Chinese businesses.
Simon S. Ang, 63, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, was arrested Friday on a wire fraud count after failing to make the disclosure on an application for a NASA grant, according to a statement Monday from the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office in Little Rock, Arkansas.
A federal complaint says such materially false representations to NASA and to the university led to numerous wire messages that facilitated a scheme to defraud. A university spokeswoman said the school suspended Ang and is cooperating with federal investigators.
Ang remained in the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville without bond. Jail records do not list an attorney for the professor. If convicted, Ang could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The FBI has been contacting colleges and universities across the country as it tries to stem what American authorities portray as the wholesale theft of technology and trade secrets by researchers tapped by China.
The breadth and intensity of the campaign emerges in emails The Associated Press obtained through records requests to public universities in 50 states.
The emails underscore the extent of U.S. concerns that universities, as recruiters of foreign talent and incubators of cutting-edge research, are particularly vulnerable targets.
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Work opportunities help draw international students to US schools
US News & World Report details the three top factors in foreign students' decision to study in the U.S. They include research opportunities and the reputation of U.S. degrees. Read the full story here. (December 2024)
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British student talks about her culture shock in Ohio
A British student who did a year abroad at Bowling Green State University in Ohio talks about adjusting to life in America in a TikTok video, Newsweek magazine reports.
Among the biggest surprises? Portion sizes, jaywalking laws and dorm room beds.
Read the full story here. (December 2024)
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Harvard's Chan School tells international students what to expect
Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health reaches out to international students by detailing the international student experience at the school.
Learn more about housing, life in Boston and more here.
- By Reuters
China unveils plan to build 'strong education nation' by 2035
China issued its first national action plan to build a "strong education nation" by 2035, which it said would help coordinate its education development, improve efficiencies in innovation and build a "strong country."
The plan, issued Sunday by the Communist Party's central committee and the State Council, aims to establish a "high quality education system" with accessibility and quality "among the best in the world."
The announcement was made after data on Friday showed China's population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, with the number of deaths outpacing a slight increase in births, and experts cautioning that the downturn will worsen in the coming years.
High childcare and education costs have been a key factor for many young Chinese opting out of having children, at a time when many face uncertainty over their job prospects amid sluggish economic growth.
"By 2035, an education power will be built," the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that China would explore gradually expanding the scope of free education, increase "high-quality" undergraduate enrolment, expand postgraduate education, and raise the proportion of doctoral students.
The plan aims to promote "healthy growth and all-round development of students," making sure primary and secondary school students have at least two hours of physical activity daily, to effectively control the myopia, or nearsightedness, and obesity rates.
"Popularizing" mental health education and establishing a national student mental health monitoring and early warning system would also be implemented, it said.
It also aims to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas to improve the operating conditions of small-scale rural schools and improve the care system for children with disabilities and those belonging to agricultural migrant populations.
The plan also aims to steadily increase the supply of kindergarten places and the accessibility of preschool education.
- By VOA News
A look at financial aid options for international graduate students in US
The Open Notebook, a site focusing on educating journalists who cover science, has complied a list of U.S. graduate program financial aid information for international students.
