Американские вузы взбунтовались

Резкое снижение числа заявлений в американские вузы со стороны иностранных студентов заставляет университетское руководство пытаться повлиять на федеральное правительство в части изменения процесса выдачи виз в сторону его упрощения.

Их аргумент: тенденция снижения числа иностранных студентов может привести к тому, что американские школы потеряют столь необходимую и существенную статью доходов и помощь, которую зарубежные студенты, а позднее специалисты, оказывают в исследовательской работе. Кроме того, подобная политика правительства может сделать Америку изолированной страной в глазах всего остального мира.

Что касается статистики, то по сравнению с 2003 годом число заявлений от аспирантов-иностранцев, желающих писать кандидатские и докторские работы в США, сократилось на 32 процента. Сейчас вузы пошли на то, что расширили сроки подачи заявлений, чтобы не потерять потенциальных студентов, которые ведут баталии с американской бюрократией.

Тем временем, в общественных комментариях и с помощью индивидуального лоббирования этого вопроса, университеты пытаются убедить федеральных чиновников ускорить процесс рассмотрения заявлений и выдачи учебных виз иностранцам.

Ниже приводим список 10 стран, из которых в США на учебу приезжает наибольшее число студентов и аспирантов. Эти данные были опубликованы в ноябре 2003 года Институтом международного образования:

1. Индия - 74.603 студента

2. Китай - 64.757

3. Южная Корея - 51.519

4. Япония - 45.960

5. Тайвань - 28.017

6. Канада - 26.513

7. Мексика - 12.801

8. Турция - 11.601

9. Индонезия - 10.432

10. Таиланд - 9.982

 

 

SPEAK OUT

Comment on the following quatations:

It is possible to store the mind with a million of facts and still be entirely uneducated. Alec Bourne

 

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.

B.F.Skinner

 

Only the educated are free.

Epicteus (55AD–135 AD), Discourses

 

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.

Gail Godwin

 

Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices.

Laurence J.Peter (1919–1968)

 

 

UNIT 2

DEALING WITH CRIME

DISCUSSION

- What is a crime? What are the major causes of crime (psychological, political, social, etc.)?

- What is the crime situation in your city? What kinds of crime prevail: murder, rape, robbery, larceny, vandalism? Is it dangerous to goout alone at night? What do you think about “10 o’clock law” for children?

- Is it illegal in Russia to drink on public streets? In the USA the legal drinking age varies from 16 to 21 (in different states). Does your city, country have a legal drinking age? What is it? “Jaywalking”(crossing in the middle of the street) is illegal in most countries. How is this miner offence treated in Russia?

- Have your ever witnessed/been a victim of violent/non-violent crime?

- How do you understand the concept “white-collar crime”? What do youn know about corruption among top-ranking officials? What are possible ways and means of combating bribery, speculations and other white-collar crime (misappr opriation, embezzlement)?

- What is the best way to control crime? Can crime be deterred by severer punishment/by more human treatment of criminals? What can individuals do to prevent a crime from happening?

- Which crimes should be punished by prison or detention centre, boot camp, probation, community service (cleaning parks and roadways)?

- How should young offenders be punished? Some people think that jail turns young offenders into worse criminals, what’s your view? Which punishment is appropriate for first-time offenders and which for juveniles who are repeat offenders?

- What is your attitude towards capital punishment? Do you consider the death penalty to be an efficient deterrent to murder? What methods of execution are applied in the US and in Russia?

 

VOCABULARY

firing squad

a lawyer for the family

a lethal injection

accepting bribes

accomplice to smb

affidavit

airtight alibi

alibi

armed robbery

arson

assailant

assault

attempted murder

B&E (break and enter)

beheading

bigamy

blackmail

bogus

burglary

carjacking

caveat

chair (Am)

cherry topper (Am)

contempt of court

counterfeiting bank notes

Court of Appeal

criminal justice center = jail (euph)

death warrant

detention centre

DOA (dead on arrival)

driving without a license

drunken driving

DUI (driving under the influence)

espionage

euthanasia

extermination/slaughter/massacre/genocide/carnage

felony

fender-bender

fingerprints

forgery

fraud

hanging

hatchet man

hearing of a case

heavy penalty

helping criminals escape

hijacking an aeroplane

I withdraw my question

in-house lawyer

innocent until proven guilty idea

joyriding

kidnapping

libel

litigation

manslaughter

medical malpractice

mercy killing

methods of execution

murder

non-custodial punishments

oath

obituary

offering a bribe

on the beat

parking in the wrong place

PD (public defender)

possessing a gun unlawfully

pre-trial hearing

pro bono

prosecuting officer

prowler

ram-raiding

rape

receiving stolen property

shingle

shoplifting

smuggling

supreme punishment

surprise witness

tax evasion

The Criminal Code

the Criminal Investigation Department

the electric chair

the gas chamber

The meeting is adjourned

to be called (on) to give evidence

to be given remissions

to be in session

to bring in an indictment

to frisk smb

to give (furnish) an alibi

to grease one’s palm/band/fist

to hang out a shingle

to have an alibi

to impede the investigation

to incarcerate

to jaywalk

to nab

to plot the escape

to post the bond

to reopen the case

to squat

to suspend judgement

to swear an affidavit

to take (up) a case

to take an affidavit

to take the oath

to tap one’s lines

to violate the oath

treason

trespass

under oath

under surveillance

vandalism

white-collar felony

 

 

READING 1

The problems of imprisonment have led to the consideration of alternative forms of punishment for criminals.

I. Read the article quickly and list the methods of reducing the prison population that are described.

II. Read the article again more carefully and find the answers to the following questions.

1 What hascaused the government to begin a prison building programme?

2 How is it suggested in the article that the parole system actually increases the number of people in prisons?

3 What happens when a person on a suspended sentence commits a crime?

4 Why is the government in a dilemma?

III. Now discuss these questions:

1. Are any of these alternatives to prison used in Russia?

2. Do you know of any other methods of punishment?

3. Do you agree that certain criminals should be re-educated rather than punished?

IV. Writing a summary

The article below contains approximately 550 words. Your task is to write a summary of the artide in no more than 150 words.

There are five stages to writing a summary.

1. Read and understand the text.

2. Underline the important points.

3. Make a list of these points in your own words.

4. Work out a logical sequence for the listed points.

5. Write the summary linking the key points together.

Compare your summaries in groups, checking that you have all included the important information.

 

Punishment Takes Many Forms