Student Visa Changes Indicated Under Biden

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Immigration rules for international students at U.S. colleges and universities have undergone multiple changes during the Trump administration. In his transition plan, President-elect Joe Biden proposes changing some of them to loosen visa restrictions.Biden, projected as winner of the November 3 presidential election, does not specifically refer to undergraduate foreign students in his “Plan for Securing Our Values as a Nation of Immigrants,” at JoeBiden.com. But he says he will increase the number of visas for “permanent, employment-based immigration — and promote mechanisms to temporarily reduce the number of visas during times of high U.S. unemployment.”Foreign students identify barriers to permanentmore

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Asian Student Athletes in US Call for Greater Diversity

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Traditional thinking about college sports does not usually conjure images of Asian athletes, which Asian students say is hindering diversity on the playing field.   “I know when I was younger, looking at some of the really successful Ivy League runners, none of them were Asian American,” said Kieran Tuntivate, a Thai American runner and recent graduate of Harvard University. “So, there wasn’t really a person I could see myself becoming or model myself after.”  Tuntivate, 23, said he believes a lack of role models for young Asian American athletes leads to a loss of diversity.  “I think whatever barriers theremore

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Chinese Authorities Punish Citizens for Using Foreign Social Media

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Chinese Communist Party officials appear to be increasing their harassment and punishment of Chinese internet users who publish on foreign social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.  China’s government firewall blocks access to those sites, but users can use VPNs and other technology to circumvent it.  A growing number of these Chinese “netizens” have been warned against visiting and posting on the social media platforms and have been forced to delete posts unfavorable to the government. Some have also been sentenced to jail terms.   FILE – A policeman stands guard next to portraits of Chinese journalist Gao Yumore

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US Students With Disabilities Afforded Equality

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Catherine Wilson is a senior at the University of Maryland College Park majoring in journalism and minoring in history. She also gets distracted easily. Loud noises, a cough or even tapping can break her concentration. Consequently, Wilson has help to ensure her success in college: extended time for exams and an alternative testing environment, called “reasonable accommodations.” “I have been really successful with (extended time). I’m able to prove I know the material. And even better, I’m actually able to finish (exams),” she said in an email to VOA. In a university setting, accommodations may include “reducing a course load, electronic word processing,more

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Foreign Students Look Forward to Visa Stability

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International students in the U.S. whose studies and immigration status have undergone changes during President Donald Trump’s administration say they hope their stays will stabilize with President-elect Joe Biden.“I do believe that … international students would feel more secure here in the U.S. while pursuing their degrees,” said Ukrainian Roman Ivasiy, a student at Georgia State University. “Especially during the COVID crisis, when most of the programs switched to the online format.”The COVID pandemic has shut down college and university campuses across the U.S. since March, leaving foreign students in limbo and in jeopardy of losing their student visa status.FILEmore

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California Votes to Continue Affirmative Action Ban

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A public vote to reinstate affirmative action in admissions at public universities in California failed in this week’s elections.Supporters of Proposition 16 hoped the state would return to allowing race and gender to be a factor in admissions at public universities, but the measure was defeated 56% to 44%.Ten U.S. states have banned such a policy – known as affirmative action: California, Texas, Washington, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Idaho.With nine universities and 285,000 students, the University of California system is the largest in the United States. In 1996, it was among the first university systems tomore

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US Among Top Contributors to Ocean Plastic Pollution

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The United States contributes much more to ocean plastic pollution than previously estimated, according to a In this April 23, 2019, aerial photo, plastic bottles and other garbage float in river Drina near Visegrad, eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina.In 2016, the U.S. recycled just 9% of its total plastic waste. About half of this was recycled domestically and half was shipped overseas. The researchers estimate that up to 1 million metric tons of U.S. plastic waste entered the environment from these exports in 2016.“For years, so much of the plastic we have put into the blue bin has been exported for recycling tomore

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COVID-19, Race, Climate Change Dominate Youth Vote Issues

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Health care and racism dominate the issues important to young people in the presidential election, according to poll trackers.Climate change is also among the top three issues to young voters, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (FILE – Ashley Nealy waits in line to cast her ballot during early voting for the presidential elections inside of the Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, October 12, 2020.“We have issues like climate change, student loans, free college tuition, free two-year community college, and affordable health care being addressed, and I think those are all reallymore

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Record Numbers of Millennials Run for State, Local Office

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Millennials comprise a large, diverse and important part of the U.S. electorate this year. But they are also an increasing portion of candidates for local and state elections.According to the Millennial Action Project (MAP), an organization tracking young people running for office across the country, record numbers of people under 45 are running for office this year.“It blew us away, because from 2018 to 2020, we’ve tracked to 266% increase… in the number of people who threw their hat in the ring,” Layla Zaidane, David Kim has been an immigration attorney for a decade, and says he wants to usemore

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America’s Youth Mull Potential High Court Changes Over Abortion

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A possible challenge to Roe v. Wade, a Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States in 1973, has young people considering how it might impact their lives.Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative judge from Indiana who was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court Monday evening, has previously disagreed with the decision, as well as the Affordable Care Act, which provides many women with free or low-cost contraception. Among 18- to 29-year-old Americans, 70% support abortion rights, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center study. Among all ages, 60% of Americans support legalized abortions.  “I am scared, because amore

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Thai Protest Leader: ‘Our Demands Are Supremely Clear’

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On Monday, the Thai parliament will open a special session called after protests swelling since August moved Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to declare a weeklong state of emergency in the Bangkok area.Police say they are prepared to handle flare-ups during the session from protesters demanding Prayuth’s resignation and reform of the monarchy. Prayuth has described the special session as a step toward finding a “middle-of-the-road path.”Unlike past anti-government protests in Thailand that saw two political interests battling each other to assume power, the current movement is led by school and college students pushing for systemic changes. Their movement has evolvedmore

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Harvard Sees Steep Decline in Revenue

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Harvard University lost $10 million in operating expenses at the end of the fiscal year in September, compared with a $308 million surplus last year.Revenue declined $138 million, mostly in the final quarter of the fiscal year that ended the last day of June 2020, according to the University’s Annual Financial Report. Refunds costlyThe biggest toll was from refunding student room and board fees — $32 million — when students were sent home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.Total student revenue decreased by 11% to $1.1 billion.Harvard also lost revenue from its lucrative executive education programs in which the university earned $500more

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Scammers Scare Students Into Giving Up Personal Information

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The call comes late at night, waking up a student with an angry voice that issues a threat about the student’s visa status.Your visa is out of compliance, the aggressive caller says, and instructs the student to send thousands of dollars to an account that he says belongs to “U.S. Immigration and Customs Services.”When the student says she or he has to call home — which can be many time zones away for many international students — the caller warns that if there is any delay, the student will be deported.The threat is a scam designed to make the unsuspectingmore

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Thai Parliament Recalled Amid Ongoing Protests

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Thailand will recall its Parliament from recess to discuss ongoing pro-democracy protests in the country, the cabinet announced Tuesday.Lawmakers are expected to meet for a non-voting session October 26 to October 27, a move that embattled Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha said he approved. Protests, largely led by students, have called for Prayuth’s resignation and several other changes to Thailand’s constitution.Protest leaders called for a day of rest Tuesday after six straight days of demonstrations, despite a ban on gatherings of more than four people.The Thai government also ordered the closing Tuesday of Voice TV, a network partly owned by the familymore

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Foreign Students Could Buoy Cash-strapped US Universities 

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International students might be a boon for many colleges and universities to offset losses during the coronavirus pandemic, say experts.  “U.S. education is an extremely valuable service export, roughly equivalent to total exports of wheat, corn, coal, and natural gas,” according to the FILE- People walk on the Stanford University campus beneath Hoover Tower in Stanford, Calif., March 14, 2019.In April, when the infection continued to shutter campuses nationwide, then-University of California President Janet Napolitano pleaded for funding assistance in a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom. “I am bringing to your attention these significant, unanticipated costs to UC in many areasmore

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Chinese Company Offers Coronavirus Vaccine to Students

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A Chinese drug developer is offering an experimental coronavirus vaccine to students going abroad in a strategy that health experts say raises safety and ethical concerns. China National Biotech Group has two vaccine candidates out of five from Chinese developers that are in the final stages of clinical trials. They are part of a global race to develop a vaccine that, if they are successful, offers the fledgling Chinese industry the potential for prestige and worldwide sales. CNBG’s vaccine has been given to medical workers and employees of Chinese companies being sent abroad under an emergency authorization for people in high-risk categories. Now,more

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Young People Tire of Coronavirus Stereotypes

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Darla Veitch, a 19-year-old student attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is not the stereotypical college student, gathering in crowds at the beach or in bars. The farthest she strays from home, she said, is her backyard. “The last time I went out was probably three months ago, to Home Depot to get some plants to put in our garden,” said Veitch. “Very crazy.” Images of parties and bars frequently paint a picture of young people who are ignoring social distancing guidelines, like wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic. As students have returned to college campuses, cases have risen.   But not allmore

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College Revenues Shrinking During Coronavirus Pandemic

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U.S. colleges and universities are bearing a greater financial impact from the coronavirus pandemic than anticipated, education officials say.And they are asking for help.The schools received $2.9 billion in federal support through the FILE – A building at the University of Maryland’s Baltimore campus is seen after sunset, Aug. 19, 2019, in Baltimore.The University of Maryland (UMD) has also taken a hard hit as it faces a $292 million budget cut in the next fiscal year. Some employees will see a salary cut, but those who earn less than $150,000 annually will not face reductions, according to FILE – Amore

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University Students Room in Chic Hotels, Apartments During Pandemic

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Cristina Lozano, a junior at New York University (NYU), has been staying at the chic W New York Hotel, a 1911 beaux arts-style building that overlooks Union Square Park and offers a short walk to the Empire State Building.The hotel is booked until next summer, when prices are advertised from the $400s to the $600s a night. For now, the place belongs to Lozano and others like her, who are living in single rooms that her university is using as campus housing during the COVID-19 pandemic.“Living in the hotel is the exact same price as most of the dorms, whichmore

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University Students Room in Hotels, Apartments During COVID

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Cristina Lozano, a junior at New York University (NYU), has been staying at the chic W New York Hotel, a 1911 beaux arts-style building that overlooks Union Square Park and offers a short walk to the Empire State Building.The hotel is booked until next summer, when prices are advertised from the $400s to the $600s a night. For now, the place belongs to Lozano and others like her, who are living in single rooms that her university is using as campus housing during the COVID-19 pandemic.“Living in the hotel is the exact same price as most of the dorms, whichmore

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Neurological, Cardiac Issues Linger in COVID-19 Youth

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Young people have suffered less under the COVID-19 virus than older people medically, but experts say the gap has narrowed, and so-called superspreading among the young is a factor.“The FILE – A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 30, 2014.A woman wearing face mask walks on a street in Hong Kong, Feb. 18, 2020. COVID-19 viral illness has sickened millions of people in China since December.In December 2019, as COVID-19 was emerging in China, colleges and universities worldwide released hundreds of thousands of students home for winter break. Many ofmore

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US Colleges Struggle to Balance COVID-19 With Classes

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Colleges and universities are seeing an increase of cases of COVID-19 as students return to campus, with some seeing rapid increases while others are keeping a lid on the spread of disease.Four sources are compiling information about colleges and COVID-19, including case-tracking maps: FILE – A woman wears a mask as she walks on campus at San Diego State University, Sept. 2, 2020, in San Diego.Most U.S. colleges and universities are not conducting widespread coronavirus tests despite the rise of cases on campuses, according to an FILE – College students wear masks out of concern for the coronavirus on themore

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College Admissions Scandal Dad Sentenced to Homestay

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A former tech executive was sentenced Monday to one year of home confinement for paying $300,000 to bribe his son’s way into Georgetown University as a tennis recruit, even though the son did not play tennis. Peter Dameris, of Pacific Palisades, California, appeared before a Boston federal court judge via video because of the coronavirus pandemic. He pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.   His sentence also included a $95,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 21 months of home confinementmore

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New Visa Rules Worry Some Students

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The U.S. has proposed a new rule for international students that would set student visas to a fixed four-year term. International students looking to extend their stay would be required to apply for an extension, according to the new rule. The rule would also limit international student visas to a fixed two-year term if students are from a country with a visa overstay rate above 10% or a country on the U.S. State Department’s State Sponsor of Terrorism list.  “This change would provide the Department with additional protections and mechanisms to exercise the oversight necessary to vigorously enforce our nation’s immigrationmore

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