The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has forbidden the use of “race, sex, color and ethnicity” in admissions, in response to a Supreme Court decision that banned affirmative action there and at Harvard. However, the school will be free for all applicants whose families make less than $80,000. The Associated Press has the story. (July 2023) …
Leave a commentAll students at Indiana University are required to take a public speaking course. Now, they can practice their oratory in front of a simulated audience using a headset. The software judges the student’s skills, and the “audience” responds accordingly with boredom or interest. Ashley Mowreader breaks down the program in Inside Higher Ed. (July 2023) …
Leave a commentFrom $300 studded headboards and $100 coffee table books to custom-made cabinets to disguise your mini-fridge, students are spending big bucks to decorate their dorm rooms, adding yet another layer to the soaring costs of college. Some are even going so far as to hire interior designers to beautify their 12 feet by 20 feet of space. Lesley Lachman, 18, planned her furnishings for her dorm room with her roommate immediately after deciding to attend the University of Mississippi back in May. The Rye, New York resident scoured websites like Pinterest and designed her room herself — with hues ofmore
Leave a commentPoliticians and officials are sharing memories and reflections on the life of Bill Richardson following news of his death on Saturday. The two-term governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and worked to free detained Americans, died in his sleep at his home in Chatham, Massachusetts. He was 75. In a statement Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden said Richardson wore many weighty titles during his life – member of Congress, governor, ambassador, Cabinet secretary. “He seized every chance to serve and met every new challenge with joy, determined tomore
Leave a commentBillionaires, burner phones, alleged bribes: The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is going to test the will of Republicans senators to oust not only one of their own, but a firebrand who has helped drive the state’s hard turn to the right for years. The historic proceedings set to start in the state Senate Tuesday are the most serious threat yet to one of Texas’ most powerful figures after nine years engulfed by criminal charges, scandal and accusations of corruption. If convicted, Paxton — just the third official in Texas’ nearly 200-year history to be impeached —more
Leave a commentU.S. President Joe Biden heads to Florida on Saturday to survey damage caused by Hurricane Idalia and comfort people affected by the storm, but he will not be meeting Ron DeSantis, the state’s Republican governor and a potential presidential rival. Biden, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday he would see the governor during the trip, but DeSantis’s spokesman Jeremy Redfern said later that no meeting was planned and that “the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.” DeSantis, 44, is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to oustmore
Leave a commentMore than a dozen people nationally have been charged with threatening election workers by a Justice Department unit trying to stem the tide of violent and graphic threats against people who count and secure the vote. Government employees are being bombarded with threats even in normally quiet periods between elections, secretaries of state and experts warn. Some point to former President Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly and falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen and spreading conspiracy theories about election workers. Experts fear the 2024 election could be worse and want the federal government to do more to protectmore
Leave a commentA one-time leader in the Proud Boys far-right extremist group has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, tying the record for the longest sentence in the attack. Ethan Nordean was one of several members convicted of spearheading an attack on the U.S. Capitol to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election. Nordean was “the undisputed leader on the ground on January 6,” said prosecutor Jason McCullough. Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence themore
Leave a commentU.S. colleges often slash thousands of dollars off the “sticker price” to entice students to enroll. The more options a student has, the bigger the discount a college needs to offer. However, the savings have disproportionately gone to white and Asian applicants. “Put merit in quotation marks,” says one admissions official. “It’s not really about rewarding students for their wonderful performance in high school, as much as it is trying to change that student’s enrollment decision.” Read more from Jill Barshay in The Hechinger Report. (July 2023) …
Leave a commentA doctoral student from Indonesia studying community well-being at Harvard University hopes to use her research to aid her country. Fairuziana, who uses a single name, is studying emotion regulation in youth mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries. Eventually, she’d like to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety in psychosis in youth. Read the full story at UNews. (July 2023) …
Leave a commentSenate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to briefly freeze and be unable to answer a reporter’s question during an event in Kentucky on Wednesday, weeks after he had a similar episode in Washington. According to video from a local news station, the 81-year-old was asked whether he would run for reelection in 2026. The senator asked the reporter to repeat the question before trailing off and staring straight ahead for about 10 seconds. A woman standing at the front of the room with McConnell asked him whether he heard the question, and she repeated it. When McConnell did not answer,more
Leave a commentA federal judge on Wednesday held Rudy Giuliani liable in a defamation lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers who say they were falsely accused of fraud, entering a default judgment against the former New York City mayor and ordering him to pay tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers’ fees. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said the punishment was necessary because Giuliani had ignored his duty as a defendant to turn over information requested by election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea’ ArShaye Moss, as part of their lawsuit. Their complaint from December 2021 accused Giuliani, one ofmore
Leave a commentKeystone Masterstudies, which specializes in student recruitment, higher education marketing and enrollment management, has a roundup of scholarships for international students seeking a master’s degree in the United States. They include university scholarships, scholarships funded by governmental bodies and external organizations, and major-specific scholarships. Get the full list here. (July 2023) …
Leave a commentThe U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled as unconstitutional affirmative action — the practice of giving underrepresented racial groups a leg up in admissions. Now Wesleyan University, a prestigious liberal arts school in Connecticut, is voluntarily getting rid of legacy admissions, which give an advantage to people whose relatives previously attended the college. Many schools are now facing lawsuits over legacy admissions, including Harvard. At a few schools, including Cornell and Dartmouth, legacy students outnumber Black students, a survey found. Kate Perez of USA Today has more. (July 2023) …
Leave a commentOliver Anthony, the previously unknown singer whose Rich Men North of Richmond went viral and topped the charts over the past week, hit out Friday at politicians, particularly on the right, for co-opting his message. In a more than 10-minute clip posted on YouTube, the songwriter from Virginia reflected on his breakout success, and said that “the one thing that has bothered me is seeing people wrap politics up in this.” “It’s aggravating seeing people on conservative news try to identify with me like I’m one of them,” he said. “It’s aggravating seeing certain musicians and politicians act like we’remore
Leave a commentAccording to new research from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), 42% of major AI companies in the United States have a founder who came to the U.S. as an international student. Furthermore, nearly 4 out of 5 of these companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants. And of all the graduate students in the U.S. studying AI-related fields, 70% come from another country. Keeping international students in the U.S. after graduation is “essential for U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence,” the study concludes. Stuart Anderson, the executive director of NFAP, summarizes his findings in Forbes. (Julymore
Leave a commentRepublican hopefuls in the 2024 presidential race held their first debate Wednesday evening, vying to appear the toughest on China and sharply divided over US support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders. The GOP nomination front-runner, former President Donald Trump, was not onstage, but experts told VOA that he still left his imprint on foreign policy issues. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …
Leave a commentForeign undergraduate students at the University of Missouri hail from Afghanistan, India and South Korea. This year, some have been accepted into study abroad programs in Iraq and internships with local crisis shelters. But student visa rules forbid first-year students from working off-campus. And even when they are eligible, the permit process is complex and takes months. Adeleine Halsey of the Columbia Missourian profiles undergraduates who are running into these restrictions. (July 2023) …
Leave a commentEight Republicans who want to be president of the United States shared a stage Wednesday night in Wisconsin for their party’s first debate ahead of next year’s election. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman was on the scene and has more from Milwaukee. Camera: Adam Greenbaum …
Leave a commentThe first big event of the 2024 presidential election campaign in the United States will be held Wednesday when candidates of the Republican Party meet on a debate stage. The story from VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman in Milwaukee. VOA footage by Adam Greenbaum and Steve Herman …
Leave a commentTelangana Today has an article detailing what international students can expect on arrival in the U.S. It includes what documents U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials will review and what information your passport stamp should contain. Read the full article here. (July 2023) …
Leave a commentAll Together, a blog for the Society of Women Engineers, has transition tips for international students studying the U.S. Among them: Make copies of important documents. Explore interests outside the classroom. Do what you can to stay safe. Read the entire blog post here. (July 2023) …
Leave a commentFormer U.S. President Donald Trump plans to skip the first Republican primary debate next week and instead sit for an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, The New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the matter. Trump has for months suggested that he would likely pass on Wednesday night’s debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, arguing that it did not make sense to give others a change to attack him given his sizeable lead among Republicans in national polls. Trump has also criticized Fox, which is hosting the debate, over its recent coverage of him. Trump’s absence couldmore
Leave a commentAfter a more ambitious relief plan was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Biden administration has announced it will forgive $39 billion in debt, held by about 804,000 people. Get the specifics in this explainer from Katherine Knott of Inside Higher Ed. (July 2023) …
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