Should Foreign Students be Banned From VA Tech
After The Decapitation Of Student Questions Are Raised
Feb 10, 2009
Student safety has always been a concern on college campuses all over the U.S., as hundreds of millions of dollars are spent annually on technology and personnel to detur campus crime. The loaction of the most heinous crime involving universtiy students ever unfortunatley took place on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. And due to another recent incident of murder which again involves foreign students, many in that rural part of the Virginia countryside are calling for the banning of non-resident students from the campus. The concern of and for student saftey at Virginia Tech and at university and college campuses across the nation has again become an issue because a female Chinese graduate student Xin Yang, was recently decapitated allegedly by Haiyang Zhu, also a Chinese national and student at Virginia Tech, with a kitchen knife in one of the schools cafeterias. This most recent murder again rocked and shocked this sleepy college town of 39,130 which also suffered a collective trauma after the shooting rampage of another student of Asian decent Seung-Hui-Cho, killed 32 students before turning his gun on himself.
The Community is Concerned About Foreign Student Participation at VA Tech
The Virginia Tech community has voiced both compassion and caring for the victim and her family, while at the same time showing disdain for the perpetrator of this crime. The questions regarding foreign students reached such a fever pitch that VA Tech University President Dr. Charles W. Steger sent a letter to the campus community that first appeared on-line at the Virginia Tech university website on January 22nd, 2009 after the university received dozens of letters, e-mails and calls from students, alumni, parents and members of the general Blacksburg, Va community attacking foreigners. In his correspondence President Steger said, "Our university community was shocked by the brutal murder at the Graduate Life Center. The suspect in custody and the nature of the incident points to an isolated very personal tragedy. An act of violence like this one brings back memories of the April 16, 2007 tragedy and I have no doubt that many of us feel especially distraught. Once again we are challenged as a community to offer support to one another as we process this event. Once again we will rise to the occasion."
The Faltering U.S. Dollar has Led Foreign Students to Flock to America
As the U.S. economy stumbles and the greenback has lost its luster in relation to other currencies around the world, universities like Virginia Tech have reaped the financial benefits from the influx of an unprecedented number foreign students. Due to these economic woes, America, the gold standard in higher education worldwide, has suddenly become quite a bargain for parents with the yen, rupees and euros to take advantage of the situation. Many colleges across the country, including Virginia Tech are experiencing sharp increases in the number of foreign applicants to both undergraduate and graduate schools,
American Universities Should Remain Open to All
As terrible an incident as Ms Yang's murder was, due to its isolated nature, there really is no reason for members of the Virginia Tech community to be further alarmed. Diversity can a strength on which to build relationships for better understanding between cultures and could be another opportunity to build relationships between the Chinese and American communities on the Virginia Tech campus and other university campuses across the country.
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