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Hello All,
I know that no serious discussion ever happens on this list, which is
mostly about selling beds, computers and books and accomodation, but there
is extraordinary news broken this day in regard to the integrity of Aus
higher education. So what do you peoples think about the news that struck
us today concerning the international students and the marketing of higher
education from Australia ,, and especially the penetration into China (with
vast untapped market expectations!) but the Australian educational businesses.
It is all about his in the newspapers now and was covered also on TV this
morning in "Business Sunday" if anyone was watching that show (I always
have the TV on, no matter what I am doing .. at the moment it is showing a
movie about "Franky and Johnny were lovers .. ").
The news at the moment is not slamming UNSW but it *IS* significantly
slamming the University of Newcastle which is also in New South Wales
state, and located not too far by road to the north of here. The Newcastle
university catchment area is one that was seriously affected by the
departure offshure by the Big Australia company otherwise known as BHP
which started as a mining company in the Broken Hill town of far western
New South Wales and later became a maker of coke and steel etc all over the
country ,, but which heavy industry has more latterly collapsed in
Australia under the influences of the free market "level playing field" and
the globalisation and the preparedness of workers in Asia etc to work for
far less money than the Aussies people ever will be prepared to reduce to
.. etc. etc. .. all this is called the
commercialisation/corporatisation/market forces and economic rationalisms
etc and has been sweeping the entire world are today's dominant ideology
following collapse of communism/socialism, and this free market ideology
push comes mainly from the United States of America as everybody knows about.
The news today anyway is:
Last weekend the VCs of Aus universities were all called to Cable Beach
resort.
Note that this happened too a couple of decades ago too and it was then
said that they were going to get their orders, so to speak, about how to
commercialise universities (under the economic rationalist modelling).
These people, the VCs, have now also had there average remuneration packets
put up to
$300-700 each.
But as of today the "Business degrees", or MBAs obtained via private
partners, of Newcastle University have suddenly shot to the fore of how
Australia has become so dependent on fee-paying overseas students (who are
sometimes said to be given an extra-easy run for their money, as this money
is highly welcomed by the unis who have had their Canberra funding cut time
and time again). Standards have been sacrified in pursuit of dollars,
because failures are bad for the business of attracting more Asian customers.
What caused this to blow out was that a lecturer, Ian Firns, has lodged
accusations with ICAC now about all this.
With the Big Australian having sold out on Australia, Newcastle University
apparently became one of the major dollar-drawers in the Lower Hunter.
In another case, a student in geosciences, according to Business Sunday,
channel 9, plagiarised her entire honours thesis yet still got awared First
Class honours and let keep a postgrad scholarship.
Australian universities get about $5 Billion annually just from the EXPORT
trade part of higher education, which is not poised to penetrate the VAST
MARKET OF CHINA, in addition to the thousands from there already physically
travelling to Aus (most of UNSW income I'd think comes now from the many
foreign students, mainly from China and other parts of Asia). Maybe only
Asians with rich daddies can afford it all, and fewer Australians afford it
as uni fees, with the lastest rises now going through, have been more than
doubled during the time I've been doing late-in-life studies myself.
It's a blurry area because the internet is flooded with sellers of "papers"
on this, that or anything. These people speak very poor English, yet
suddenly their essays would break into very sophisticated English. Just
take portion of that and put it into Google and you get the source of where
the student got material, but failed to acknowledge it.
What do you all think about this?
I personally think we have every right to utilise anything and everything
that we can find on the internet!
BUT, and this is most important ... do always acknowledge the sources of
everything you re-use or quote verbatim, to protect yourself always from
any possible accusations of plagiarism.
With kind regards to all,
John
(I am an older student, not a young one like so many others are .. so I
have the added wisdom/benefit of age behind me and of having already been
through the so-called "university of life" as well .. so you can trust what
I tell you *S*).
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