GMAT cheating worries US colleges
Thu, Dec 17, 2009
China Daily/Asia News Network
US universities are concerned about Chinese students' cheating on entrance exams across the country, according to experts.
"Anything from China is suspect in the United States now in the education realm," said Steven Dickinson, a China-based lawyer and former law professor at the University of Washington who worked with the school's admissions office to select international candidates.
The problem stems not necessarily from the students themselves but rather from the resources Chinese rely on to study for admissions tests, like the Graduate Record Examinations and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).
In 2008, 98,510 Chinese students went to study in the US, growing 21 percent over 2007, a report by the Institute of International Education said. China was the second largest source of foreign students in the US after India.
The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which distributes the GMAT exam, sued Passion for copyright infringement after it posted "live" test questions from GMAT exams online and distributed PDFs from test books.
A Beijing court ordered Beijing Passion Consultancy Ltd on Nov 23 to pay a fine of 520,000 yuan (S$106,496) for copyright infringement and publicly apologize for its actions.
Passion, a company that has trained around one third of Chinese students applying to the top 10 American business schools, said on Tuesday that it was sorry for selling GMAT materials without authorization.
After testing materials were removed, the traffic of Passion's website dropped by 70 percent in the past week, according to Internet traffic monitoring website Alexa.com.
Chinese students frequent a number of websites that reportedly hire staff to pose as test-takers and post reconstructed "live" questions from the exams for free online. Some of the proxy test-takers have employed hi-tech gadgets, including cameras and microphones, to obtain exam material.
"They will hire people to take the test and then steal the test book," Dickinson said. "Or they will get even more nasty and get an insider to send the text book that is coming out next and then get the answers to certain tests."
Even with GMAC's litigation against Passion, many other test-prep websites exist providing materials to Chinese students facing stiff competition to get into foreign schools.
Showing posts with label guide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guide. Show all posts
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Novartis produces first batch of swine flu vaccine
Novartis produces first batch of swine flu vaccine
June 12th, 2009
Swiss drugs giant Novartis has completed a first batch of swine flu vaccine for pre-clinical trials and aims to make a version available in the fall, the company said Friday.
"Novartis has successfully completed the production of the first batch of influenza A(H1N1) vaccine, weeks ahead of expectations," the company said in a statement.
The 10-litre batch "will be used for pre-clinical evaluation and testing and is also being considered for use in clinical trials," it said.
Novartis hopes to start clinical trials in July and "expects licensure in the fall of 2009," it said.
It added that "more than 30 governments have made requests to Novartis to supply them with influenza A(H1N1) vaccine ingredients."
The company used cell-based technology to produce the vaccine, a faster method than the traditional technology that uses eggs, according to Novartis.
Novartis received 289 million dollars (206.8 million euros) last month from the US Department of Health and Human Services for the development of the vaccine.
The World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic on Thursday, ratcheting up its alert to the maximum level of six.
Swine flu has infected people almost 30,000 people in 75 countries and claimed 144 lives since it was first detected in Mexico in April.
(c) 2009 AFP
- wong chee tat :)
June 12th, 2009
Swiss drugs giant Novartis has completed a first batch of swine flu vaccine for pre-clinical trials and aims to make a version available in the fall, the company said Friday.
"Novartis has successfully completed the production of the first batch of influenza A(H1N1) vaccine, weeks ahead of expectations," the company said in a statement.
The 10-litre batch "will be used for pre-clinical evaluation and testing and is also being considered for use in clinical trials," it said.
Novartis hopes to start clinical trials in July and "expects licensure in the fall of 2009," it said.
It added that "more than 30 governments have made requests to Novartis to supply them with influenza A(H1N1) vaccine ingredients."
The company used cell-based technology to produce the vaccine, a faster method than the traditional technology that uses eggs, according to Novartis.
Novartis received 289 million dollars (206.8 million euros) last month from the US Department of Health and Human Services for the development of the vaccine.
The World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic on Thursday, ratcheting up its alert to the maximum level of six.
Swine flu has infected people almost 30,000 people in 75 countries and claimed 144 lives since it was first detected in Mexico in April.
(c) 2009 AFP
- wong chee tat :)
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Grads & Money
Which grads earn the most? (and here)
By LIEW HANQING
FRESH graduates from the economics degree programme of the Singapore Management University (SMU) are among the best paid in their peer group, with a median starting salary of $3,300.
Those with distinctions fare even better. The corresponding figure for them is $3,750.
SMU's economics programme is among several local undergraduate courses with a 100 per cent overall employment rate for recent graduates.
Prospective students can now have a better idea of which local degree programmes offers the best pay, thanks to data released by the Ministry of Education (MOE)for the first time this year.
Its Graduate Employment Survey is based on responses from recent graduates of the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and SMU.
The survey tracks employment data of graduates six months after graduation. The survey results are available on MOE's website, www.moe.gov.sg, on the 'post-secondary education' page.
The information available includes overall employment rates as well as mean and median gross monthly salaries of graduates, organised according to the degree courses offered by each university. (See table right.)
For example, about 90 per cent of mechanical engineering graduates from NUS were employed six months after graduation, with a median gross monthly salary of $2,965.
However, the economy and employment conditions have worsened since these graduates got their jobs. A spokesman for MOE said it would publish the results of the GES annually.
'The data gives prospective students a general indication of the employment conditions of the graduates from the various degree courses offered by our local universities,' he said.
He added that MOE decided to publish the survey results to help students make informed course decisions.
The survey was conducted on graduates who completed their studies between May and June last year and entered the labour market by 1 Nov.
Point of reference
Said the spokesman: 'We understand employment conditions may have changed since, but we hope that the data may still be useful as one point of reference for the students.'
The survey covers most available degree courses, but omits data from law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture, as graduates in these subjects must first undergo professional training.
Most students The New Paper spoke to felt the information was useful for those trying to choose a course of study.
Said Tan Ying Quan, 18, who has applied to both local and overseas universities: 'The information is useful because it allows students to gauge the viability of their studies in the current job market.'
He added that the availability of such employment data would prevent students from having unrealistic expectations of their starting salaries or the likelihood of securing employment upon graduation.
But undergraduate Yvonne Poon, 20, said the starting salary is just one factor that most prospective students look at when selecting a possible future career.
'When it comes to the crunch, surely pay doesn't matter that much - aptitude and passion is more important,' she said.
'You cannot brainwash yourself into developing a liking for, say, the highest- paying job around.'
Undergraduate Joanne Chia, 22, said she felt the information would help job hunters have a good idea of what to expect when they enter the job market.
She said: 'There are still quite a number of undergraduates who don't have an accurate idea of what entry-level pay to expect.
'This information would help moderate their expectations and hopefully help them pick their jobs wisely.'
She added that it would be useful if information such as the names of big-name employers, and the number of graduates they hire from each local university, are published as well.
'That would give us a good idea of our chances of being employed by the more sought-after companies,' she said.
What do you think of the survey?
- wong chee tat :)
By LIEW HANQING
FRESH graduates from the economics degree programme of the Singapore Management University (SMU) are among the best paid in their peer group, with a median starting salary of $3,300.
Those with distinctions fare even better. The corresponding figure for them is $3,750.
SMU's economics programme is among several local undergraduate courses with a 100 per cent overall employment rate for recent graduates.
Prospective students can now have a better idea of which local degree programmes offers the best pay, thanks to data released by the Ministry of Education (MOE)for the first time this year.
Its Graduate Employment Survey is based on responses from recent graduates of the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and SMU.
The survey tracks employment data of graduates six months after graduation. The survey results are available on MOE's website, www.moe.gov.sg, on the 'post-secondary education' page.
The information available includes overall employment rates as well as mean and median gross monthly salaries of graduates, organised according to the degree courses offered by each university. (See table right.)
For example, about 90 per cent of mechanical engineering graduates from NUS were employed six months after graduation, with a median gross monthly salary of $2,965.
However, the economy and employment conditions have worsened since these graduates got their jobs. A spokesman for MOE said it would publish the results of the GES annually.
'The data gives prospective students a general indication of the employment conditions of the graduates from the various degree courses offered by our local universities,' he said.
He added that MOE decided to publish the survey results to help students make informed course decisions.
The survey was conducted on graduates who completed their studies between May and June last year and entered the labour market by 1 Nov.
Point of reference
Said the spokesman: 'We understand employment conditions may have changed since, but we hope that the data may still be useful as one point of reference for the students.'
The survey covers most available degree courses, but omits data from law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture, as graduates in these subjects must first undergo professional training.
Most students The New Paper spoke to felt the information was useful for those trying to choose a course of study.
Said Tan Ying Quan, 18, who has applied to both local and overseas universities: 'The information is useful because it allows students to gauge the viability of their studies in the current job market.'
He added that the availability of such employment data would prevent students from having unrealistic expectations of their starting salaries or the likelihood of securing employment upon graduation.
But undergraduate Yvonne Poon, 20, said the starting salary is just one factor that most prospective students look at when selecting a possible future career.
'When it comes to the crunch, surely pay doesn't matter that much - aptitude and passion is more important,' she said.
'You cannot brainwash yourself into developing a liking for, say, the highest- paying job around.'
Undergraduate Joanne Chia, 22, said she felt the information would help job hunters have a good idea of what to expect when they enter the job market.
She said: 'There are still quite a number of undergraduates who don't have an accurate idea of what entry-level pay to expect.
'This information would help moderate their expectations and hopefully help them pick their jobs wisely.'
She added that it would be useful if information such as the names of big-name employers, and the number of graduates they hire from each local university, are published as well.
'That would give us a good idea of our chances of being employed by the more sought-after companies,' she said.
What do you think of the survey?
- wong chee tat :)
Sunday, October 26, 2008
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