The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 2 November 2012.
Four injured in University of Southern California campus shooting
A shooting on the campus of the University of Southern California has left four people injuried after an argument outside a Halloween party escalated out of control. None of the victims, nor the two suspects, are students at the university, reports Yahoo News. The incident has brought to light safety concerns about USC's central Los Angeles location.
University of San Diego draws fire for withdrawing invitation to pro-same sex marriage academic
The University of San Diego, a catholic institution, has been criticized by University of Cambridge historian Eamon Duffy for withdrawing an invitation to a UK scholar who wrote (with 26 other theologians) a letter to a British newspaper in support of same-sex marriage. Tina Beattie, director of Roehampton University’s Digby Stuart Research Centre for Catholic Study, had been invited to be visiting fellow at the university’s Frances G Harpst Center for Catholic Thought and Culture, reports The Guardian. Duffy accused the institution of taking part in the ‘Sovietisation’ of Catholic intellectual debate.
San Francisco Art Institute student interviews 200 Chinese students in the US
Liu Huinan, a Chinese student studying at the San Francisco Art Institute, has interviewed over 200 Chinese students studying in the US over two years for a documentary showing what life as an international student in the US is like. He started the project initially, he says, as he did not know what to expect of his experience of studying in the US. The film has attracted the attention of the media, with the trailer being shown by Hong Kong-based Phoenix television, reports China Daily.
Chinese students at Nottingham University Ningbo vote for annulment of curfew
A survey at the University of Nottingham’s Ningbo campus in China has found that the majority of Chinese students studying there believe the 11pm curfew that applies only to domestic undergraduate students is unfair. However, a large proportion of students also believe that it removing the curfew – common policy at China’s universities – could hurt Nottingham’s profile and make parents unwilling to send their children there, reports Impact.
Cambridge University Council defends disciplinary system
The University of Cambridge has moved to defend the disciplinary system which saw a student expelled for seven semesters after he interrupted a speech by UK universities minister David Willets with a protest poem, reports Cambridge News. The sentence has since been reduced to one semester, but many still believe the sentence was unfair. The government of which Willets is a part has pushed through a number of controversial reforms, including the tripling of the maximum permitted annual tuition fees to £9,000 (US$14,400).