EDUCATION REPORT - Foreign Student Series 6: Student and Exc

EDUCATION REPORT - Foreign Student Series #6: Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS)
By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, October 07, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Education Report.

Last week we discussed rules for getting permission to enter the United States to study at a college or university. Now, in part six of our Foreign Student Series, we discuss the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. This computer system is known as SEVIS. It went into effect in January of two thousand three.

All schools must enter information when they admit a foreign student. SEVIS brings together about seventy-four thousand American colleges, universities and technical schools. It links them to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement¹ Service.

The government uses the system to let a school know when a student has entered the country. The school must report within thirty days if the student is attending classes. The school must also report if the student leaves school.

The Department of Homeland Security² says SEVIS now lists about seven hundred seventy thousand students and exchange visitors. Family members who traveled with them are also listed.

On September first, the United States began to charge each student and exchange visitor one hundred dollars to help pay for the system. The money will also help pay for a new SEVIS Web site that is being developed. The site will permit student and exchange visitors to examine their SEVIS information and payment³ record online.

Information about SEVIS can be found on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Web site: www.ice.gov...www.ice.gov. And you can find our Foreign Student Series at www.tingroom.com.

Finally, we want to add to our report two weeks ago about online programs. One example we gave is the largest university in the country to operate for profit, the University of Phoenix⁴.

Last month, its owner, the Apollo Group, announced settlement agreements with the Department of Education. In one case, the company agreed to pay a fine of nearly ten million dollars.

Investigators⁵ say the University of Phoenix used unacceptable sales methods to pressure employees to sign up students. Employees reportedly admitted some students who were unprepared.

The settlement involved no admission⁶ of wrongdoing. Other profit-making higher education companies have also been under investigation⁷.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Gwen Outen.

1 enforcement   

n.实施, 执行

参考例句：

• MPs called for tougher enforcement of the existing laws on drugs. 下院议员呼籲加强现行毒品法律的执行力度。
• The court is ineffective because it lacks the necessary enforcement machinery. 法院效率低是因为缺乏必要的执行机制。

2 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

3 payment   

n.付款，支付，偿还，偿还，报应

参考例句：

• I gave ten pounds in payment for the goods I bought.我买那些东西付了10英镑。
• This last payment will wipe out your debt to me.这最后一笔付款将了结你欠我的债务。

4 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

5 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》

6 admission   

n.允许进入；承认；入场费，入会费，入场券

参考例句：

• We attached a condition to his admission to our school.我们对准许他入校附加了一个条件。
• By her own admission,she was responsible for the accident.她自己承认，事故应该由她负责。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。