Category Archives: Op/Ed

COLUMN: An International Student’s Choice — Is Studying Abroad Worth It?

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By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

Yu Bai/Delta Digital News Service

At the end of this year, I will graduate from college and end my four years of life as an international student in the United States. Looking back on the four years of college, I gained valuable experiences and unforgettable memories. It is a courageous decision to give up your familiar environment in your homeland along with family and all of your friends to study abroad in an unknown country. However, when most people discuss becoming an international student, they all ask the same question, “Is it worth the high tuition to study abroad?” As for me, my answer is “YES.”

The exchange rate of the Chinese Yuan (monetary currency) to USD is 1:7, and I cannot calculate how much money my parents paid for my entire college career in the United States during these four years. But I think the things I learned and experienced in the past few years cannot be measured by money. They are far more precious than money.

The first thing that I feel is the most significant difference in my scholarly life is the difference between Chinese and Western education models in college. In Chinese’ college, students’ grades are mainly composed of mid-term exams and final exams, while attendance and homework only account for a small percentage. However, in the United States, in addition to exams and homework assignments, quizzes, class discussions, and presentations will all affect a student’s final grade. It means that if a students decide to study abroad, they need to allocate their time more reasonably and attach importance to each requirement on their syllabus. In addition, the syllabus is a unique thing in the western education system. In China, students will not receive all the course requirements that they need to complete at the beginning of the semester. The content and method of their homework depends on various professors. Professors will hand out assignments from time to time according to the progress of courses, and the deadline is also flexible.

While I studying in the United States these past years, I have learned to arrange my study time reasonably. I can clearly see the tasks of each course from the syllabus, and it helps me a lot to design my study plan based on different deadlines. I have developed the habit of writing down the assignments that I need to compete during each week in my notebook and give priority to the assignments with earlier deadlines. It’s one of the most effective ways to improve learning efficiency because you know which tasks are most important.

However, when you start a new life in an unfamiliar country with a non-native language, you will also encounter many difficulties. The past few years of studying abroad have exercised my perseverance and ability to deal with problems. As a student, the biggest problem for me is the language. For example, you don’t understand what the professor said during class, and you cannot communicate with other people due to your poor oral English. It means that if you want to keep up with the class, you have to work harder than native students. Unlike a large number of calculations in business majors, my journalism major requires a higher level for reading, writing, and oral skills. In order to better understand the content of the class, I need to look through the reading lists posted by the professor before class. The large number of unfamiliar vocabulary words and syntax is a huge challenge for me. Thus, I usually spend a lot of extra time to completing tasks. Although the process is arduous, I am grateful for these experiences because they made me an outstanding pupil. Compared to when I had just arrived at the United States four years ago, my English ability has improved a lot in all aspects.

Finally, the experiences of studying abroad made me feel the importance cultural diversity, which helps me look at different things with an inclusive attitude. In college, I take classes with students of different skin color. When we are communicating with each other, it’s the best way to learn new things about a different culture. Before we meet each other, we might have some stereotypes about people from different countries. However, it’s these years of my American life which make me more aware of the importance of racial equality. I like the freedom of speech on campus where you can talk about racism at any time. Although racism is the main contradiction and problem in American society, fortunately, I have never suffered unequal treatment during these years.

In general, studying abroad is a worthwhile thing for me. I have been learned about different cultures and training myself to deal with difficulties at the same time. These precious experiences cannot be measured by money.

Note: Featured photo by Claudia Wolff on Unsplash

OPINION: TikTok’s Dilemma in U.S. — Should it be banned?

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By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

Yu Bai is a Chinese national and multimedia journalism major at Arkansas State University.

JONESBORO – TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service by ByteDance, and is used to create videos such as short music, lip-sync, and comedy of 3 to 15 seconds. The app’s most popular function amongst its users is to create lip-syncing and dancing videos. It is simple but omnipotent. TikTok includes interesting videos like Youtube, music like Myspace, filters like Instagram or Snapchat, and communication like Whatsapp.

Recently, President Donald Trump suddenly announced that the U.S. government would consider banning the use of TikTok because of concerns about national security. The executive orders argue the Chinese government can access data from TikTok which utilizes an artificial intelligence algorithm to grab content from its user’s information stream and push it after deep mining, which can be potentially leveraged for espionage or blackmail.

I think this is absurd hegemonic behavior of the American government. The Chinese government responded strongly believing the U.S. has blurred the concept of national security, and made resumptions of guilt and issued threats to relevant companies without any evidence, which violated the principles of market economy. TikTok should not be banned and treated in such a threatening way.

TikTok operates strictly in accordance with the laws of the United States. As a short video application, it aims to provide entertainment for the public. Donald Trump should not use political means to suppress U.S. competitors. It is an example of extreme protectionism, which directly disrupts the free market economy.

According to investment bank Piper Sandler’s report, TikTok surpassed Instagram in the United States and became the second favorite social application amongst teenagers.

Also, the ban has been widely resisted by well-known bloggers on TikTok. Nine bloggers with around 54 million fans stated in an open letter to Trump that TikTok has achieved interactions that cannot be achieved on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. TikTok gives them a platform to show their talents and bring joy to other people. If the platform is banned, they will lose a major source of creativity and their happiness in life.

I disagree with the argument that TikTok is an urgent threat to U.S. national security. Like all Chinese technology companies, ByteDance must comply with Chinese censorship laws, which forces the app to provide user data to the Chinese government. But TikTok’s content review work is led by the American team and is not effected by any foreign government. In addition, if TikTok is a threat to American national security, so then are popular video games such as League of Legends, whose maker Riot Games is owned by China’s Tencent.

If all countries in the world use imaginary risks to make things difficult for these popular social platforms, will there still be common applications in this world? If such unfounded national security principles are promoted globally, the biggest losses will undoubtedly be American tech giants such as Apple and Microsoft.

For people who are not American citizens, such as me, an international student, this ban order will have a great negative impact on our lives. TikTok is a platform for us to communicate with family and friends far away in the United States, and it means that we will lose the opportunity for long-distance communication if it’s banned. Trump’s executive order is going to make the U.S. a hostile place to visit, study in, or immigrate to. For a diversified immigration country like the United States, banning TikTok is not a wise decision.

The current series of American crackdowns on TikTok are actually an act of anger under the failure of competition. Behind the legitimate success of Chinese companies and the suppression of a Chinese app that is highly recognized by the American people, is an unfair ban that attempts to obviously make the Trump administration gain favorable interests.

If the government really cares about privacy and data collection, then it is better to find an unbiased solution to their problem than to ban the app by using mandatory administrative orders.

OPINION: Mulan – Learning from a Chinese feminist icon

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By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

The origin of Mulan’s story can be traced back several centuries and before it became a much-loved cartoon image created by Disney in the 90s. This year, film director Niki Caro adapted the story into a live-action movie for the big screen.

Yu Bai/ DDNS Social Media Coordinator

Yifei Liu, the actress cast as Hua Mulan, is the first Chinese actress selected to star in a Disney movie. This historic casting is one of the reasons the movie has demanded a huge box office in China.  As such, Liu as Mulan represents the breaking of traditional societal constraints of Chinese women.

The story of a Mulan is that of a Chinese woman who disguised herself as a man in order to replace her elderly father in the army. As a solider, Mulan would inevitably engage in combat, eventually becoming a heroine on the battlefield.

Mulan is witty, brave, and self-conscious. She is the ordinary girl who became extraordinary – the ‘heroine’ that everyone hopes become. When her country needs her, she stepped forward and made the sacrifice. More importantly, her actions were not driven by the actions of men as were most Chinese women at that time. Mulan proved through her efforts that women also have the strength to protect and defend their families.

The boldness of her choice is evident, as hundreds of years ago, China was a feudal society where women were subordinate to men. Mulan reflects the hardworking, kind, and brave character found in traditional Chinese women which inspired future women to strive for self-improvement and challenge the status quo.

The story also teaches young women an important lesson  – the pursuit of a self-satisfying identity can only happen when you shed society’s “good girl” constraints to become who you were meant to be inside.

In addition, the legend of Mulan has created a new understanding of how traditional eastern women are defined in Western culture. Whether in fairy tales or in Disney animated films, the traditional European and American princesses are always gentle and innocent, waiting to be rescued by the prince. However, as a warrior Mulan subverts this tradition.

At the end of the story, when Mulan plucked up the courage to return home, her father accepts her as she is. It conveys the attitude of family tolerance — no matter what happens, your family will always welcome you home.

In the development of the Chinese film market, there are also many outstanding actresses representing the spirit of Mulan. Successfully breaking into the Hollywood film industry, Chinese-American actress such as, Lucy Liu, known for the “Charlie Girl” series, was nominated for an Oscar in 2013. In addition, Ziyi Zhang, known for the character of Yu Jiaolong in the 1999 martial arts film, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” won the American Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2005, Zhang was shortlisted for best actress during the 63rd American Film and Television Golden Globe Awards for her film, “Memoirs of a Geisha”.

More and more Chinese actresses appear in Hollywood films breaking Hollywood movie tradition by playing roles that have historically been dominated by European and American actors and actresses.

Li’s portrayal of Mulan in the film shows a young woman who becomes a legendary feminist icon by daring to challenge and break the mold of traditional gender roles.

Editor’s Note: (Feature Image credit: Disney)

 

 

Politics Aside, Opioid Crisis Must be Stopped

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by Jama Domerese
Delta Digital News Service

Opioid Crisis

Click the picture to view special topic index.

JONESBORO – With political opinions more heated than ever, both parties agree the opioid crisis is an epidemic that needs to be stopped.

The death rate due to prescription drug abuse in the United States has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. Opioid prescription drugs alone were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2015, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of methamphetamine and cocaine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes can lead a patient to a life-long addiction.

Opioids help those who suffer from chronic pain and need help dealing with it. Not only are they easy to obtain from doctors, but they are relatively cheap for those with or without insurance. The long-term effects of using the prescriptions can lead to a dependence that leads to other health issues including brain and liver damage, a built-up tolerance, and a change in character that can influence a person’s life.

It can have long-term effects on personal relationships with friends and families causing divorce and child custody battles. It can affect someone’s career by not being able to pass a drug test and not being able to keep a steady job. The use of prescription medications is also used as a gateway drug that can lead to much harder and more expensive illegal drugs. The abuse of substances can also lead to criminal acts. Whether it’s driving under the influence or stealing to obtain more money to buy the drugs, opioid use can cause people to make poor decisions that can ultimately ruin their life.

When it comes to the political side of this situation, the two primary U.S. parties are often torn. Republicans often suggest opioid abusers should be punished ultimately for the misuse of prescription medications to try and get ahead of the problem of them upgrading to harder drugs. Conservatives are known to vote to enforce punishment because they see opioid abuse as a choice.

“When it comes to being a Republican, it is often seen as us trying to jail drug users instead of sending them to rehab like most Democrats want to do,” said A-State College of Republicans member Wesley Armstrong.

Many Democrats see drugs abuse as a mental illness. They claim punishment is not the answer to this problem; it needs to start with rehabilitation and medical attention. Liberals suggest reducing the number of unnecessary prescription drugs would help the nation economically.

The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and programs such as the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan are helping to develop a way to control unnecessarily prescribed drug consumption. The first phase of the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan is to educate medical school students, prescribers, dispensers and the public about safe opioid prescribing.

A-State pre-med student Stephen Bell offered his thoughts on learning about the process.

“When you decide to take a step into the medical field, it comes with a lot of responsibility. Knowing the signs of abuse is a major key to determining how to continue prescribing and how to get someone the help they need. We as doctors have to understand that this is an ongoing issue that is unfortunately directly caused by us. It’s our job to help fix it,” Bell said.

Some states have passed mandatory prescribed education legislation. In addition, some administrations have continued to improve the system of safe disposal of expired opioids with the help of law enforcement agencies, successfully disposing of over 2.8 million pounds of unused medication since 2013.

Prescription drug abuse strikes every sense of an individual’s life, including their intellectual health, conduct and even physical appearance. The consumption of drugs can be caused by events that produce an excess of anxiety, sadness or hyperactivity. The use of drugs in a household can lead to destructive and violent behaviors; the effect drugs have on a family can be present many generations later, causing a chain of bad events to unleash in the community throughout a time span.

Pilkington_Aaron

State Rep. Aaron Pilkington

District 69 Rep. Aaron Pilkington suggested government officials should compromise for the good of the country.

“If our political parties can learn to compromise and see that both have some great ideas to help, our nation will be able to help combat opioid abuse by being more aware of the drastic consequences of abusing something that was once a privilege given to the citizens of the United States of America to help with health problems,” he said.

Federal and state agencies have already started looking for solutions to end the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs by educating the general public, medical students, monitoring physicians and any opioid legal prescriber about this issue. This ensures they are not medicating excessively.

The methods and programs being implemented are small steps to get rid of the opioid epidemic that is taking over so many lives.