Newspaper Page Text
Most foreign
students come
from China
Leads India
and Korea
By KATHRYN INGALL
The Red & Black
China is now the No. 1
place of origin for interna
tional students studying
at the University and
across the nation.
“I think that’s pretty
much going to stay the
same,” said Robin Catmur,
director of the office of
international affairs and
education.
This year, an Institute
of International Education
report showed China had
surpassed India for the
first time in the number of
students it sent to the
study in the United States
with 18 percent of inter
national students coming
from China.
According to the 2009
University Fact Book, of
the more than 2,000 inter
national students at the
University, 366 are
Chinese. This lead was
followed closely by South
Korea with 354 students
and India with 314 stu
dents.
The most popular areas
of study for all interna
tional students are bio
logical studies followed by
computer and informa
tion sciences, Catmur
said.
At the University, the
majority of Chinese inter
national students are
enrolled in master’s or
doctorate programs at 76
percent.
Georgia Study, a non
profit organization, hopes
to attract more interna
tional students to
Georgia.
“For a couple of years,
the U.S. Department of
Commerce has encour
aged states to form con
sortia and pool their
resources,” said Jason
Wynn, co-chair of Georgia
Study.
Wynn said the organi
zation does not have spe
cific plans to attract stu
dents from China, but
indirect measures such as
putting a website in
Mandarin or Cantonese
can make studying in the
U.S. more attractive to
students.
The presence of
Chinese students on cam
pus can be felt through
out University class
rooms.
“There are so many
students taking Chinese
and learning the language.
In one course or another
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they may have a Chinese
T.A.,” said Ling Rao, a
graduate student who
teaches Chinese language
courses.
Rao is also vice-presi
dent of the Chinese
Student Union, a group
which helps students feel
more at home by hosting
celebrations for Chinese
holidays, such as a dance
party for Chinese New
Year.
“Probably the biggest
challenge is the language
barrier and the cultural
differences. When we first
came over it was hard for
us to communicate. We
were very anxious about
talking to Americans.
Also, I heard from some
students that they
couldn’t understand their
professors in class,” Rao
said.
Tony Chen, a geogra
phy doctoral candidate
from Hunan, China, said
language was also his big
gest challenge while
studying at the
University.
“The language issue is
one of the top issues. I’m
still learning English and
still trying to adapt to this
environment,” Chen said.
Another challenge is
the difference between
American and Chinese
food.
“Firstly, the challenge
is the food,” said Kai Qi, a
doctoral student studying
physics.
He said he enjoys pizza
and chili, but his favorite
dish from his home is kao
yang rou, or roasted
lamb.
International students
who do not own a car or
have a U.S. driver’s license
also find it difficult to get
around campus.
“Many students don’t
have cars and we have to
figure out a way by taking
Athens transit or asking
friends for a ride,” Rao
said.
However, the new chal
lenges are not restricted
solely to campus. Getting
used to the culture is
something international
students face off campus
as well.
■Though there are differ
ences between Chinese
and American cultural
practices, Qi sees it as a
learning experience.
“Because we come
from a country where
there is no religion and
there is no god, I think
first you feel a little bit
uncomfortable, but you
should get to know them
and accept and get along,”
Qi said.
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LAURA FEDER | The Red a Black
▲ Attendees boogie down at the Special Olympics prom event Thursday night. This year’s theme
was ‘A Night with the Stars’ and athletes escorted guests down a special red carpet walk.
DANCE: Prom-goers express themselves
► From Page 1
Jackson said. “Their hearts
are so pure and they are so
happy, they are my outlet,
because no matter how
bad my day has gone I can
come hang out with them
and they are so cheerful.”
Jackson, who dressed as
Lady Gaga for the prom,
encourages other students
to get involved with Special
ENGINEERING: Grad programs may be in the works
► From Page 1
will be started.
“We felt like it was
important to get the initial
programs established,” he
said. “But like every
research university, we will
ultimately seek Ph.D.s in
these areas. It will be a
general engineering degree,
and the student will focus
on an area.”
Morehead said the
University does not foresee
having to make too many
infrastructure changes to
accommodate the new
majors in the school of
engineering.
He said only one course
would have to be added to
the existing engineering
programs on campus in
preparation for the pro
posed civil engineering cur
riculum.
“One thing you have to
keep in mind is we’re
already teaching the first
two years of engineering
with our current pro
grams,” Morehead said.
“The first two years that
NEWS
Olympics because the
group is always recruiting.
Parents of students
attending the dance
seemed as thrilled with the
dance as with the organiza
tion hosting it, especially
David and Vanessa Heath,
who brought their daugh
ter Heather to the event
for the past three years.
“It’s great for the kids to
go out and have fun just
we admit the new class of
civil engineers will not
require us to do anything
differently. The only reason
we’ll have to add a few
more faculty members is
because we’ll have more
students as a result of the
new programs.”
Adams said he felt new
areas of land acquired by
the University and the uti
lization of existing build
ings would create enough
space for the initial growth
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like everybody else does,”
David Heath said. “The
thing I like the most is that
all these young people get
together and do this for
these kids and I love it. It’s '
amazing and is just great.”
All prom guests enjoyed
catered food and music
and the volunteers provid
ed a dance in which every
guest could express them
selves, but no one felt dif
of the campus Engineering
School.
“We think with the
movement of some of the
people to the Navy School...
and with what has been
the historic under-utiliza
tion of Driftmier
[Engineering Center]...
that we’ll be able to make
some adjustments and do
what we told the Regents
we’d be able to do, which is
manage that program
internally for the first five
Gft*
The Red & Black | Friday, December 3, 2010
ferent, Weldon said.
“After this event every
year, I get numerous calls
and e-mails, parents in
tears, telling us how excit
ed they are that we still do
this every year,” Weldon
said. “Just thanking us so
much, telling us that their
child felt like a princess for
the night or their son had
more fun than he’s had in
years.”
years,” he said.
He said the school will
be competitive, and it will
admit between 500 and 800
students.
“And I think we will
meet a state need,” Adams
said. “How it’s going to
grow over the next 15 or 20
years remains to be seen.
Some other people will
probably make those deci
sions. But we’re going to
do exactly what we’ve told
the regents we’ll do.”
5