On-campus Violence Concerns Some International Students, Not Others

On-campus Violence Concerns Some International Students, Not Others

Gun violence can happen anywhere in the United States.

It can happen at a school for children, a holiday parade or a food store.

It can also happen on college campuses.

In February, a gunman came onto the grounds of Michigan State University and killed three people and hurt five others.

Last November, three University of Virginia students were killed by a classmate as they returned from a group trip to Washington, D.C.

Different kinds of violence can also strike universities. Last autumn, someone with a knife killed four students from the University of Idaho as they slept in their home near the school.

Investigators¹ are still working on the case in Idaho. In Michigan, the man who shot the students later killed himself. In Virginia, police arrested the student who shot his classmates.

There have been nine mass shootings at or around American colleges since 1966. That information comes from the Violence Project . The group defines² a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are murdered in public in a single incident.

The deadliest was at Virginia Tech in 2007. In that attack, a student killed 32 people and wounded 17 others.

Fifteen years later, some laws and rules have been changed, but shootings still happen.

How does the risk of such violence affect international students coming to the United States? And how does it affect the people whose job it is to recruit³ such students?

VOA Learning English spoke⁴ with two international students and a member of one university's international programs team to find out.

Northeastern University recruiter⁵

Beau Benson recruits⁶ international students at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. The university has one of the largest populations of international students in the country.

After a shooting like the one at Michigan State, Benson said, people thinking about coming to the U.S. for their studies have more questions about safety.

Benson said worried parents ask: "Will my son or daughter be safe if I send them halfway⁷ around the world?"

Benson notes, however, that the questions change depending on news events and international politics. Earlier in his career, international students and their parents were more worried about feeling welcome in the U.S.

"And it's really in the last few weeks or months, I would say, that the whole topic of gun violence has come up again."

Student reaction to violence

Kartik Sundaram and Khushi Agnish are both from India. They currently⁸ are in school or work on college campuses in the United States.

Sundaram studies the behavior of internet users at the University of Michigan. Agnish recently finished her studies at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. She now works as a researcher at Yale University.

Sundaram lives in Ann Arbor⁹, Michigan. That is about 100 kilometers from the Michigan State University campus.

He called the Michigan State shooting "tragic¹⁰."

"But it's kind of out of our control," he added. "There's nothing really I can do about it and there's no point in wasting my mental resources thinking about it."

Sundaram said that if a person with a gun did come to his classroom, "then I'm dead."

Agnish has experience at two American universities. She said the environment at Quinnipiac is very different than the one at Yale even though they are only 15 minutes apart.

Yale is in the city of New Haven¹¹ and people can walk onto the campus without much trouble. Quinnipiac, on the other hand, is in the suburban¹² city of Hamden. It is next to a large state park and separated from homes and business areas. She said anyone who drives a car must show their school identification¹³ card in order to enter the campus.

At Yale, people need a student card to enter buildings.

Agnish said she worries about crime and sometimes feels less safe in New Haven than she did in India.

"A lot of people know that India is not considered a very safe country. But to be honest, living in New Haven made me feel a bit like maybe I was safer back home. And I would say that because in India, the most that would happen is I could get kidnapped or something, right? Like someone could just pick me up, take me ,hold me hostage¹⁴ or something.

"But in America I fear sometimes someone might just shoot me."

Agnish said sometimes she worries she could be a target because of her skin color.

"There's a constant fear – because of the gun laws in this country – that if someone gets mad at you, they can just shoot you," she said.

What's next?

Both the students and Benson, the recruiter, are unsure if the recent violence at American universities will make future students consider higher education in countries other than the U.S.

Sundaram said he believes the benefit of studying in the U.S. outweighs¹⁵ the risk.

"The opportunity to make much more money was the dominant¹⁶ factor," he added.

Benson, however, worries that some international students may be turned off by the violence and the high cost of attending school in the United States. Universities in places like Canada, Australia and Northern Europe are considered safer and usually have a lower cost of attendance¹⁷. He tells students that Boston is a safe place for international students and that Northeastern works hard to keep its campus safe.

For Agnish, she said she only really learned about gun violence in America during her first year in the U.S. She said such events were not talked about much in the news in India.

So, when she was considering coming to the U.S. for school, she did not think much about her safety.

But, Agnish said, "If I was asked now, I might think twice before making a decision."

Words in This Story

campus –n. the location of a college or school

parade –n. an event used to celebrate something special, such as a holiday, where many people walk in a line or a group. Often with musicians.

recruit –v. to find people who want to come to a place such as a university

mad –adj. a feeling of anger

benefit –n. something that is positive or good

opportunity –n. the chance to do something

factor –n. something that helps produce or influence a result : one of the things that cause something to happen

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 defines   

规定( define的第三人称单数 )； 使明确； 精确地解释； 画出…的线条

参考例句：

• This name defines us all. 这个名字造就了我们。 来自演讲部分
• The range of incomes over which this happens defines the 'poverty trap'. 发生在这种情况的收入范围，称为“贫困陷阱。”

3 recruit   

n.招聘，新兵，新成员；v.恢复，补充，招募

参考例句：

• The country's first act would be to recruit for the navy.国家的第一个行动是为海军征募新兵。
• This is a nationwide campaign to recruit women into trade unions.这是一次吸收妇女参加工会的全国性运动。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 recruiter   

n.招募者

参考例句：

• The tele recruiter is prompted by a variety of questions, depending on your answers. 针对你不同的回答，这位考官还会提出些不同的问题。
• A recruiter can give you insider pointers and advice. 一个招聘人可以为你提供内行人的观点与建议。

6 recruits   

新兵( recruit的名词复数 )； （机构中的）新成员； 就业； 人才开发

参考例句：

• A corps of doctors arrived to inoculate the recruits. 一队医生来给新兵打防疫针。
• The recruits are exercised every day in the art of self-defence. 新兵每天训练自卫技能。

7 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

8 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

9 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

10 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

11 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

12 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

13 identification   

n.视为同一，证明同一，确认

参考例句：

• He's made a formal identification of the body.他正式确认了死者身份。
• We should have identification card on the person when we go out.我们外出时应随身携带身份证。

14 hostage   

n.人质，抵押品

参考例句：

• One group claimed to have executed the American hostage.一个组织声称已经处决了那名美国人质。
• Have you read the article about the rescue of the hostage?你看了关于营救人质的文章了吗？

15 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句

16 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

17 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。