Dalai Lama to Speak at University of Sydney
View(s):The University of Sydney has confirmed in a statement that the Dalai Lama will speak on campus in June, after allegations that it had initially tried to back away from playing host to the Nobel laureate, who is considered a controversial figure in China.
John Keane, director of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at the university, said in the statement last Tuesday that his institute remained “firmly committed to the principle that academics are free to invite to our campus anyone who has a legitimate contribution to make to public debate.”
ABC News of Australia reported on April 17 that the university had intervened to “withdraw support” for a Dalai Lama lecture. That same day, the university said it had “no official request” from the Dalai Lama, although it acknowledged that students had discussed “the possibility of arranging a lecture.”
Stephen Garton, the deputy vice chancellor, said in a statement that the proposed date fell outside the school term, and that an alternative plan would be to hold an event at a hotel.
Sophie Bouris, a University of Sydney doctoral candidate who was involved in organizing the talk, said by telephone that the university had originally confirmed that the Dalai Lama could speak, but was later told there would be restrictions on news coverage, external marketing and use of the university’s logo.
Last year, the university held a lecture about the Dalai Lama sponsored by the Confucius Institute, which is largely funded by the Chinese government.
U.S. group backs boycott of Israeli institutions
The Association for Asian American Studies, based in the United States, has approved a resolution to support a boycott of Israeli universities.
The motion, which passed April 20, aimed “to honor the call of Palestinian civil society.” It said that “students and scholars have been subjected to profiling, surveillance and civil rights violations that have circumscribed their freedom of political expression, particularly in relation to the issue of human rights in Palestine-Israel.”
Chinese student jailed for trying to bribe professor
Yang Li, a Chinese master’s student at the University of Bath in Britain, has been given a one-year jail sentence and a £4,800 fine after pleading guilty to bribery and possession of an imitation firearm, according to court documents.
Mr. Li, 26, had received a failing grade on his dissertation, but was told that he could resubmit his 12,000-word essay, the BBC reported. Instead, last November, Mr. Li placed £5,000, or about $7,600, in cash on his professor’s desk and revealed a loaded air pistol.
“You attempted to persuade a university professor to behave in such a way that, if it had been successful, you would have undermined the integrity of the universities in the U.K.,” Judge Michael Longman said in his decision last week, adding that the attempt had been “doomed to fail from the start.”
U.C.L.A. goes smoke-free, joining about 1,000 schools
The University of California, Los Angeles, has said on its Web site that it has become one of about 1,000 U.S. campuses to create a smoke- and tobacco-free environment. Under the new policy put into place on Earth Day, April 22, cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and electronic cigarettes are forbidden at any sites owned or fully leased by the university, including outdoor spaces.-nytimes.com
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