Headline Nov. 27/ ''' * FREEDOM * OF NATIONALISM '''

''' * FREEDOM * OF NATIONALISM '''

SINCE OVER A YEAR, I HAVE BEEN LIVING IN TRENCHES WITH THE STUDENTS..........  

SO, it is natural and beautiful and a great honor, to have students delegation after delegation, drop by, from all over.......  

*I LOOK OVER MY SHOULDER* WITH great pride and stand humbled by the faith, love, respect and honors bestowed on -the unworthy me-

By the World and the Proud People of Pakistan, and these formidable heroes: 

Merium, Rabo, Zilli, Dee, Shahzaib, Haleema, Salar, Hussain, Saima, Aqsa, Bilal,  Eman, Ahsen, Armeen, Umair Nasir, Heera, Zaeem, Seher-  

Haider, Faraz, Awais Khan, Umer, Reza. Ali, Wajahat,  Mustafa, Adel Cheema, Ibrahim, Rizwan Khan, Azeem, Shahriyar Khan, Danyial, Hamad, Ghazi,

And You All, the great students of the world. 

I thank you all, and assure you a balanced and fearless leadership in the days ahead as we face up to building a better world.      

THE STUDENTS assertiveness has posed a challenge not only to Australia's universities but also to its broader society, which prides itself on being a tolerant, multiethnic melting pot.

The Australian news media has given the episodes a intensive, often negative coverage, portraying the students as brainwashed or under the thumb of government agents.

A backlash has appeared in the form of racist anti-Chinese scrawlings on campuses.

Behind the attention is the deep anxiety that many Australians feel toward an emerging Asian superpower that is both their country's security challenge and its largest trading partner.

Concerns about the role of the roughly 164,000 Chinese students in Australia have become particularly acute as a revenue from foreign students have become a major driver of its economy.

Education is the country's third-largest export [after iron ore and coal], and many Australian universities now rely on full-fee paying international students of whom nearly 30 percent are from China, to subsidize domestic students and academic research.

As a result, educators and other experts say, universities and faculty members have become especially vulnerable to pressure from Chinese students.

In one case in late August, at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, a group of Chinese students in an international class took issue with their lecturer, Nimay Kalyani, when he referred to Taiwan as an independent country.

China considers the self-governing island part of its territory.

The students covertly videotaped an argument with him and mobilized on social media to shame him and the university.

In the video, made public by the Chinese-language media, one student can be heard saying : ''Chinese students are one-third of this classroom. You make us feel uncomfortable.''

The university eventually spoke up on Professor Kalyan's behalf, describing his statement as accurate in the context of the discussion.

But in other instances, universities have been more reluctant to defend the academic involved.

Khimji Vaghjiani, a computer science lecturer of the University of Sydney, was found to have used a map during a class he taught 18 months earlier, showing India in control of disputed areas around the border with China.

Chinese students reported the map to Chinese-language news media, describing it as accurate. Dr. Vaghjiani later apologized, explaining the map was outdated.

The professors involved in these episodes all declines. or did not respond to to, requests for comments. 

The University of Sydney said in a statement that no professors had been forced to apoligize for statements relating to China.

But some faculty members said Australian universities were simply struggling with how to handle a new generation of Chinese students who feel more nationalistic and more empowered.

Merriden Varrall, director of the East Asia Programe of the Lowy Institute, a think tank in Sydney, said that many students came up through a Chinese system that teaches modern history as- ''The century of humiliation,'' -

In which foreigners have kept China down since the Opium Wars of the 19th century.

''To many of them it is not a question of a fair academic debate about an interesting topic,'' Dr. Varrall said. ''It is as if someone is criticizing their family.''

Some Chinese students argue that they are not harming critical debates, but rather adding perspective.

''The confrontation between Chinese students and academics that have appeared recently are opportunities for people from different cultures to understand how Chinese people think,'' said Wang Junling, 38, a Chinese writer who graduate in June from James Cook University in Queensland.

That sentiment was echoed by Mr. Gao, the Monash student, who said everything taught at Australian universities should be ''correct and official''.

''I would like to say when we're abroad, we're representing the image of China,'' Mr. Gao wrote in one article on the quiz incident. ''It is everybody's undeniable responsibility to defend out country's interests.''

Many academics say that in the kind of rigidity that limits freedom of discussion and that sets professors on edge.

''I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning and see a link on ''WeChat'' -China's most popular social network-   ''saying that I said something in a lecture a year ago that hurt people's feelings,'' said Dr. Carrico of the University of Sydney.''

''But that's the kind of the reality we've in at the moment.''       

With respectful dedication to the Students of the world. See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Adaption & Evolution '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless