29/8/2006 - Do I have to cry for it? |
I have always been proud to say that I graduated from Peking University (PKU), China's best uni, which holds the No.15 position in the ranking of 2005 Thames Higher Education. This is the global recognition of PKU, at which I am really happy as one of its graduates.
But recently I have heard a lot of negative news about my Alma Mater. It unofficially starts with the so-called "competition over students" between Mainland universities and Hong Kong universities. A lot more unis from Hong Kong came to the Mainland and recruited some of the best students this year. So some netizens/newspapers/ TV programs started to refer to PKU and Tsinghua (2nd best uni in China) as"second-rate unis." Personally, I think they just didn't have anything else to do and wanted to make PKU and Tsinghua look bad. There are always students from the Mainland going to unis in Hong Kong. I think this year's recruitment topic is very hot just because the job market gets more and more severe. So a Bachelor's Degree from a Mainland uni is not good enough in the eyes of employers, esp. the foreign employers. It's not because PKU and Tsinghua are getting worse that many students wanna go and study in Hong Kong and that many Hong Kong unis can take a large percent of the student market. It is because the country doesn't have a good policy for graduates to find a decent job. Those who have called PKU and Tsinghua "second rate unis" actually don't understand the two and they may have failed in the national entrance exams and failed to be enrolled by them too. I just hope if they are wankers, just stop showing themselves to be wankers again.
 
Then there is news/gossip about PKU again. It's said that a lot of foreign experts/professors in PKU are "fake"; the quality of this team is not high; and PKU uses this team to start projects, for which the national government grant a lot of money. To tell you the truth, I am not sure about this. But foreign experts in my department were really professional, intelligent and nice. I hope PKU can do something to clarify it no matter it's true or not. If it's true, please take the glorious tradition from 1898 and admit it and correct it.
The third one I have heard about PKU is that it's gonna change its name and logo. And part of the campus will be converted into a golf practice course. I can't see anything improper in the name - Peking University. And the logo is fantastic. I paste it in my Chinese resume to indicate my PKU identity. Some say the changes is to react to the competition over students with Hong Kong universities. Some say the changes is to aim at being an "internationally famous university". I say, these changes will ruin the glorious tradition of PKU, which started in 1898 when it was established as China's first university. I feel very sad at the "gossip" and the future "facts". For the latter two issues, I can't find any reason to barrack for PKU. I can't clarify any false message as a PKU graduate. Will I have to cry for my uni when things get worse if they can get even worse? My only suggestion is to think of PKU tradition and its' fighting history as a pioneer uni in China and then change the President Xu Zhihong because I don't think a scientist can deal with a uni with such rich culture, long history and good reputation.
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30/8/2006 - Beat-up |
| Posted by zhangbohan |
| I think the criticism is too severe and is aimed at taking down a tall poppy. For example, one of the headlines on the Beijing Time was "Beijing University to build a golf course on campus". If you read the article, however, you will discover that they aren't going to build an actual golf course, but rather a driving range which will facilitate golf lessons and a golf society. I encourage journalists to balance their criticism of Beida by going over to Erwai and digging up some dirt. If they did that, then there would be glorious mud everywhere, but they won't do that because Erwai doesn't have Beida's credientals and definitely isn't a tall poppy. |
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30/8/2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by Anonymous |
Absolutely, there is definitely an element of tall poppy syndrome to the PKU debate. And you wouldn't have to scratch too deeply to get Erwai in the shit. What a pathetic university.
chriswaugh_bj.livejournal.com |
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