Campus Crisis at International Students

Early this month, two Chinese graduate students from USC (University of South California) were killed in their car. They were travelling around US via a secondhand BMW. When they stop the car and relax themselves, a robber uesd gun to demanded the couples to get out of the car. Lack of experience, these two students refused to leave the car. The reaction made the robber angry and shot them to death.The news is like a bomb, leading to a wide range of discussions.

Only two weeks later, two Chinese students in Australia were robbed and attacked on a train back to their house. Many Chinese students, who prepare to study abroad, begin to hesitate “is it safe abroad”?

Two students killed in the USC case. (Source: aboluowang.com)

Actually, in general, the public security in these developed countries is much better than in China. However, the two cases warn us that the situation is not ideal. Many local residents and also many Chinese people consider study-abroad students to be rich and wealthy. Although the fact is not like that, this concern has deeply injected in these people’s minds.

In the USC case, most people focused more on the BMW car rather than the case itself. In fact, the BMW is a second hand vehicle only cost 10,000 dollars.

The BWM in the case. (Source: sina.com)

The two cases also have negative effects on the educational popularity in these countries. First, although these students may hesitate to study abroad, most of them may still apply for these universities. However, after they are admitted, they may not come to study. Thus, both the quality and the quantity of the students will decrease. Second, if the amount of students were decreased, the tuition income will also decrease. Especially for public universities in the US, they gain fewer funds from the state government because of the economic crisis and the tuitions from international students can serve as a supplement to the university funds. Third, the decrease in Chinese students will affect the diversity on campus. The degree of diversity is very important for a university because it will affect the reputation and fame. Finally, international students are fresh troops in research programs in these universities. The decrease will also affect the research environment.

Campus Crisis (Source: roanoke.com)

Hopefully, the US and Australia government can improve the public security and assure the safety of students. The campus crime is a tragedy for students.