"Explorarea Americilor pe bicicleta", la UAIC Iasi
Facultatea de Geografie si Geologie din cadrul Universitatii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza" din Iasi organizeaza prezentarea "Explorarea Americilor pe bicicleta", cu exploratorul Radu Paltineanu, care va sustine o prezentare despre cele 22 de tari vizitate pe bicicleta. Evenimentul va avea loc luni, 18 martie, la ora 18.00, in Aula Magna „Mihai Eminescu".
Radu Paltineanu este considerat unul din cei mai mari aventurieri romani ai ultimilor ani, fiind inclus in numeroase topuri de diferite institutii de prestigiu. Este alpinist, cicloturist, Blogger si un model de om pentru noile generatii. In perioada 2016-2018 a reusit sa traverseze pe bicicleta in premiera nationala cele doua Americi, dupa 34.000 km pedalati si 22 de tari vizitate.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
College bribery scandal: students sue elite schools in class action
Students claim they were denied fair opportunity to apply to Yale and University of Southern California
In one of the first lawsuits to come out of the college bribery scandal, several students are suing Yale, Georgetown, Stanford and other schools involved in the case, saying they and others were denied a fair shot at admission.
The plaintiffs brought the class-action complaint on Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco on behalf of themselves and other applicants, asking for unspecified damages and the return of all application fees.
They argued that applicants who played by the rules were victimized when rich and famous parents paid bribes that enabled unqualified students to get into highly selective universities.
“Each of the universities took the students’ admission application fees while failing to take adequate steps to ensure that their admissions process was fair and free of fraud, bribery, cheating and dishonesty,” the lawsuit said.
Legal experts, though, said the students could have difficulty holding the colleges responsible.
The scandal erupted on Tuesday when federal prosecutors announced charges against 50 people, including coaches and dozens of parents, among them the TV actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. Prosecutors said parents paid to rig standardized exams and bribed coaches to get their children designated as recruited athletes in sports they didn’t even play, thereby boosting their chances of getting in.
On Thursday, the Hallmark Channel cut ties with Loughlin, a longtime star of its feel-good movies. Meanwhile, the cosmetics company Sephora dropped Loughlin’s daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli, a 19-year-old social media star who frequently pushes products online.
The colleges have cast themselves as victims and moved to distance themselves from the coaches by firing or suspending them.
The investigation began with a tip from an executive under suspicion in a securities fraud inquiry, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The executive told Boston authorities that the women’s soccer coach at Yale offered to label the executive’s daughter a recruited athlete in exchange for cash, the official said.
The class-action complaint was brought initially by Erica Olsen and Kalea Woods, now students at Stanford. It was revised Thursday to remove Olsen and add three new plaintiffs, students at Tulane, Rutgers and an unnamed community college.
One of the institutions being sued, the University of Texas at Austin, issued a statement saying that it was “outraged” over the bribery scheme and that any wrongdoing at the school does not reflect its admissions practices and was carried out by “one UT employee”.
Other schools named in the lawsuit were the University of Southern California, the University of California at Los Angeles, Wake Forest University and the University of San Diego.
Messages seeking comment from Olsen and Woods were not immediately returned. An email to one of their attorneys, John Medler, also was not immediately returned.
Among other claims, the lawsuit said that the universities should have discovered the bribes and that their failure to do so through audits or other practices reflects “an unfair business practice”.
The lawsuit seeks to represent everyone who applied between 2012 and 2018, paid an application fee and was rejected by one of the named schools.
The students in the lawsuit could have a difficult time tying the schools to the fraud in the absence of further evidence, said Joy Blanchard, a professor at Louisiana State University who focuses on higher education law.
“They won’t be able to prove that the universities were behind some grand scheme,” she said.
David Levine, an expert in lawsuit rules and procedures at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, said the plaintiffs may succeed in returning application fees to prospective students but probably won’t get anything more.
“The big money is unlikely to be there,” he said.
USC officials said earlier this week that prosecutors believe the perpetrators “went to great lengths to conceal their actions from the university”. Yale, likewise, said it was “the victim of a crime”.
Publicație : The Guardian
Plan S may ‘consolidate power of big publishers’, academy warns
London Book Fair hears claims European open access push may aid big publishers rather than reduce their power
The world’s largest commercial publishers may see their dominant market position enhanced by a European initiative to make publicly funded research immediately available in open access format, it has been warned.
Advocates of Plan S have claimed the shift to open access will rein in the power and profits enjoyed by large academic publishers, including Elsevier, which last month posted profits of nearly £1 billion in 2018.
Critics have, however, questioned whether the project may actually strengthen the hand of multinational publishers at the expense of smaller publishers, including those run by learned societies, many of which rely on income from subscription-based journals.
These titles would be off-limits to publicly funded researchers after the implementation of Plan S, which was announced by Science Europe in September and received backing from funding agencies in 14 countries, as well as the European Commission.
Speaking at London Book Fair, James Rivington, head of publications at the British Academy which funds humanities and social science research, said many journals run by learned societies may struggle to adapt to Plan S rules (which come into effect in January 2020) and may seek commercial alliances to survive.
“The people who are most able to comply [with the changes] are big publishers and learned societies may be required to establish larger connections to these big publishers,” said Mr Rivington, who added that “it might be that the position of big publishers is embedded further”.
Mr Rivington also questioned the impact of Plan S on the humanities and social science scholars as the “vast majority do not receive grant funding that allow for the large [article] processing costs” that are paid under open access models.
“It is interesting to hear how scholars working without [grant] support…should turn to their university for that money” for processing costs, added Mr Rivington, who said that, in many cases, “where [these university-provided funds] do exist, they are not enough and scholars have not always been successful in getting this money”.
Destroying the subscription-based model could limit the ability of smaller publishers to edit and disseminate journal articles written by scholars, the conference also heard.
“The amount [of work] we put in to help shape articles is far beyond peer review and it comes with a cost – we also put in a huge amount of work to market that content,” explained Julia Mortimer, journals director at Bristol University Press.
However, David Sweeney, executive director of Research England and co-chair of the Plan S implementation committee, said that “there has to be some discussion about whether these services are wanted” in light of concerns over the cost of some subscription journals.
Mr Sweeney also rejected claims from some publishers that Research England’s umbrella body UK Research and Innovation, which spends about £6 billion on research annually, was using its financial clout to drive the Plan S reforms.
“It is not an economic actor because it does not deal with publishers,” insisted Mr Sweeney, who said it was up to universities to cut their own deals with publishers.
Publicație : The Times
Paul Gilroy: is the academy taking race seriously at last?
The winner of this year’s Holberg Prize, worth over £500,000, on career setbacks, changing attitudes and decolonising the curriculum
He was referring to the announcement that he is this year’s winner of the prestigious Holberg Prize, established by the Norwegian Parliament in 2003, for work that has “influenced and, in some cases, reshaped several fields and sub-fields, including cultural studies, critical race studies, sociology, history, anthropology and African American studies”.
Now professor of American and English literature at King’s College London, Professor Gilroy first came to fame with the publication of There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack in 1987, a book that set out to challenge the notion that race was “marginal to the normal processes by which British society has developed” and argued that class analysis had to be “substantially reworked in the light of its encounter with ‘race’”. Although the book has now become a classic, the immediate result, he recalled, was that “it was made very clear to me that my temporary contract of employment wasn’t going to be continued”.
So how had attitudes to scholarly work on race changed since then?
Today, Professor Gilroy acknowledged, “there is a greater degree of legitimacy awarded to those of us who want to specialise in these areas. I’m glad of that, but is that process complete? Not really, not from the discussions I have with younger scholars.” One had recently described to him, for example, “a meeting looking at candidates where they were told ‘race was interesting a few years ago, but not any more’.” “The archival and theoretical work in the field is somehow judged to be secondary or journalistic or identity politics,” Professor Gilroy said.
There had also been an exodus of British specialists in such topics. Professor Gilroy himself spent the period from 1999 to 2005 at Yale University because he thought he would be “taken more seriously there”, but had returned to the UK – somewhat ironically in light of Brexit – because he “wanted to be part of the intellectual life of this country and part of the scholarly culture of a new Europe that I thought was in the making”.
Debates about the decolonisation of the curriculum, in Professor Gilroy’s view, had been “helpful in purging some of the bad habits and default settings which have left so much of the archive of humanistic studies in the hands of people who have a tacit nationalist orientation”.
But, he added: “Educated people in the UK need to be much more extensively acquainted with the history of the imperial and colonial past of this country. Where that acquaintance is considered to be the ethnic property of black Britons, then we’ve still got a great deal more work to do.” Furthermore, there were still “some very respected and authoritative figures, often expatriate English voices, who argue it’s banal to make the kind of criticisms [of empire] that I make. The balance of forces is very divided.”
On the shortage of black professors and the challenges faced by ethnic minority students in British universities, Professor Gilroy saw no substitute for “looking in a really patient and detailed way at what people are studying, where they are studying and the pressures they are under”. He placed little faith in importing models from the US or “simply reaching for a diversity and empowerment agenda”, whereby “people are packed off to learn a new rhetoric to satisfy the award of Kitemarks”. He was equally sceptical about attempts to “match a curriculum to the incoming ethnic or racial or cultural character of students”.
The Holberg Prize is given to an outstanding researcher in the arts and humanities, the social sciences, law or theology and comes with NKr6 million (£530,000). So did Professor Gilroy have any plans as to what to do with the money?
He said he suspected that he would give some of it to organisations whose work reflected a central aspect of his research. One possibility was the charity Inquest, since it “works with families of people who have been killed following contact with the police or in custody. Their activity connects up with arguments about the varying value assigned to the different categories of life along racial lines.”
But the award also meant something else to Professor Gilroy. Several of the earlier laureates have also made important contributions to the study of race, he said, including Marina Warner, Natalie Zemon Davis and Ian Hacking, although he said that he suspected that none have been a “descendant of Atlantic slaves” like him.
Publicație : The Times
Mon avis sur Rennes SB: «J’ai rencontré mes futurs associés à l’école!»
VOTRE AVIS - Après des études au sein du programme grande école de Rennes school of business, Caroline a décidé de créer sa start-up. Elle revient sur ses années d’études, à la suite de laquelle elle a monté sa start-up.
Après deux années de prépa à Nancy, Caroline a choisi Rennes school of business pour poursuivre ses études. Dans cette école de commerce, 13e du classement du Figaro, la jeune femme, qui ne savait pas encore ce qu’elle souhaitait faire plus tard, a vu son projet professionnel évoluer. Lors de la dernière année de son programme grande école, elle a rejoint le MSc entrepreneuriat et innovation de l’école, dans lequel elle a lancé son entreprise en compagnie de plusieurs camarades. Pour le Figaro Etudiant, la jeune diplômée revient sur son parcours au sein de l’école de management rennaise.
Ce que j’ai aimé: «J’ai découvert plein de personnes d’horizons différents»
Pour moi, le côté international était très important. C’est d’ailleurs pour ça que j’ai choisi cette école plutôt que les autres dans lesquelles j’avais également été acceptée. J’ai passé six mois dans l’Iowa (États-Unis), au sein d’une université partenaire de l’école. C’était génial, j’ai rencontré de nouvelles personnes et me suis beaucoup amusée! J’ai également passé une année de césure en stage en Belgique dans l’un des plus grands réseaux d’entrepreneurs du monde: je devais accompagner une start-up dans son développement.
J’ai aimé le côté très ouvert de cette école: il y avait une bonne ambiance et j’ai découvert des personnes d’horizons très différents. D’ailleurs, j’y ai même rencontré mes associés!
Autre atout de l’école: le nombre d’associations étudiantes dans lesquelles il est possible de s’engager. C’est quelque chose qui m’a beaucoup occupée au cours de mes années d’études. J’étais engagée dans l’association sociale de l’école: on accompagnait des lycéens qui avaient de bonnes notes mais avaient un entourage difficile et on leur faisait découvrir les grandes écoles.
Ce qui m’a surprise: «Le parcours étudiant dépend beaucoup de ce que l’on veut faire»
En prépa, tout était toujours très cadré, en école de commerce, le parcours étudiant dépend beaucoup plus de nous, de ce que l’on veut faire. Il y a plein d’opportunités de stages, d’expatriations, d’engagements associatifs, etc. C’est une richesse incroyable! C’est peut-être d’ailleurs ça qui a suscité mon envie de me lancer dans l’entrepreneuriat.
Je ne m’attendais pas non plus à de telles infrastructures. Lorsque l’on sort de prépa, que l’on n’a donc pas encore connu autre chose que le lycée, et que l’on arrive dans des locaux aussi grands, c’est un vrai choc. En plus, tout est fait pour que l’on puisse à la fois travailler et s’amuser.
Ce que j’ai moins aimé: «Les deux premières années, le cursus est très généraliste»
Lors des deux premières années du programme grande école, le cursus est très généraliste, je n’ai donc pas forcément réussi à trouver ma voie. J’ai beaucoup plus appris lors de ma dernière année, car c’était spécialisé en entrepreneuriat, et donc, beaucoup plus pratique.
Le prix de l’école évidemment: les business schools sont coûteuses, il faut donc avoir de quoi financer cette scolarité. À l’époque, j’ai dû payer 8000 euros par an. Je m’en suis sortie sans faire d’emprunt: j’ai travaillé pendant toutes mes études en dehors de l’école et j’ai même trouvé un job étudiant à la bibliothèque de Rennes SB.
Ce que je fais aujourd’hui: «J’ai monté mon entreprise directement après mes études»
Je suis diplômée depuis trois ans. J’ai monté mon entreprise, Newcy, directement après mes études. C’est un service de gobelets réutilisables pour les entreprises, afin qu’il y ait moins de déchets. Depuis la création, nous avons déjà eu 600 demandes de grands groupes comme le Crédit Agricole, Orange, Suez. On a levé un million d’euros en septembre pour se développer d’ici 2020. Nous avons de belles perspectives. Nous sommes quatre associés (tous issus de Rennes SB), neuf en tout dans l’entreprise. L’entreprise n’est pas encore rentable, mais c’est pour bientôt!
Publicație : Le Figaro
Aux Etats-Unis, le MBA n’est plus prophète en son pays
Après des années de croissance, la prestigieuse formation de Master of Business Administration subit une désaffection sensible aux Etats-Unis, notamment de la part des étudiants étrangers, au profit de l’Asie et de l’Europe.
Quentin Faucompré
Amy Nelson a grandi dans une petite ville perdue du Midwest, près de Saint-Louis (Missouri), élevée seule par sa mère. Mais elle a quitté l’Amérique profonde : après des études en Californie et un début de carrière dans des ONG, la jeune femme a suivi un Master Business of Administration (MBA) à la prestigieuse New York University (NYU), au cœur de Manhattan, en 2011 et 2012.
Rêve américain
Amy Nelson incarne ce rêve américain que l’on dit moribond. Pourtant, elle pousse un coup de gueule contre le système qui lui a permis de s’en sortir. Six ans après son diplôme, endettée à hauteur de 250 000 dollars (soit plus de 220 000 euros), elle s’en prend au système des MBA.
Bien sûr, elle a eu droit à une bourse la première année, de 40 000 dollars environ. Mais elle n’a pas réussi à l’obtenir pour la seconde année, alors que les frais de scolarité sont de 70 000 dollars par an. Il a fallu payer le loyer à Brooklyn, la garde de ses deux enfants, qu’elle élevait seule à l’époque, et voilà comment elle s’est retrouvée endettée jusqu’au cou.
250 000 dollars, c’est élevé, mais pas inhabituel. La carrière d’Amy Nelson a bien progressé : entrée en 2013 avec un salaire de 90 000 dollars annuel dans une ONG de 35 salariés, Venture for America, qui aide les entrepreneurs à se lancer dans les zones défavorisées des Etats-Unis, comme Detroit et La Nouvelle-Orléans, elle en est devenue directrice générale et gagne 200 000 dollars par an.
Un revenu important qui ne lui permet pas pour autant de rembourser sa dette et qui est sans commune mesure avec les salaires de ceux qui ont choisi la voie royale après les MBA, entrant chez Goldman Sachs (finance), McKinsey (stratégie), Procter & Gamble (marketing) ou Amazon (technologie), des entreprises qui recrutent sur les campus, parfois même avant la rentrée scolaire
Publicație : Le Monde
Donald Trump étouffe lentement les visas pour les diplômés
Faute de faire réformer par le Congrès un système de visas bancal depuis des années, les équipes du président le rendent insupportable. Résultat, les jeunes hésitent à tenter l’aventure américaine.
Chronique. Dans l’Amérique de Donald Trump, même quand on a gagné à la loterie, on n’a pas complètement gagné. Elias Chedid, diplômé en mathématiques de Dauphine et de HEC, en fait l’amère expérience. Le jeune homme de 29 ans croyait être sorti d’affaire au printemps 2018 lorsqu’il a gagné au tirage au sort le droit de demander un visa H1B, celui réservé aux diplômés et aux informaticiens qui manquent dans la Silicon Valley. Un soulagement après avoir raté la loterie 2017 (ces visas sont contingentés à 85 000 par an). Il espérait pouvoir rejoindre son entreprise AgilOne près de San Francisco à l’automne. Et puis rien. Après le « shutdown » du début d’année, une lettre lui parvient enfin, demandant un supplément d’information : Elias Chedid doit décrire par le menu son futur travail pour démontrer que celui-ci exige des compétences pointues ; préciser les cours suivis pendant ses études pour prouver qu’ils correspondent techniquement à son affectation ; produire une lettre de recommandation de ses anciens employeurs, etc.
« Les services de l’immigration sont volontairement embouteillés. Le traitement d’un dossier qui prenait cinq mois en 2014 en prend désormais dix »
C’est la nouvelle technique de Trump. Faute de faire réformer par le Congrès un système de visas bancal depuis des années et de clarifier un maquis qui fait la fortune des avocats, les équipes du président le rendent insupportable. Ainsi, l’obtention des visas H1B était quasi automatique à la fin du mandat d’Obama, avec 28 % seulement de demandes de renseignements fin 2016. Ce chiffre a progressé à 46 % fin 2017 et s’est envolé à 60 % fin 2018, selon les services américains de l’immigration. Parallèlement, le taux d’approbation a décliné, passant de 92 % fin 2016 à 83 % en 2017, puis à 75 % fin 2018. « Ils changent la loi sans la changer. Il n’y a pas de modification législative mais des décrets présidentiels et des circulaires administratives qui produisent des changements majeurs, en dissuadant et retardant l’immigration légale », déplore Roxanne Levine, avocate spécialisée à New York. Elias Chedid travaille pour l’instant de Paris pour AgilOne, en espérant encore obtenir le fameux sésame.
Mesures dilatoires
Ce zèle bureaucratique est censé protéger les travailleurs américains de la concurrence d’informaticiens indiens et chinois affectés à des emplois répétitifs dans les entreprises de services informatiques. Car, officiellement, M. Trump veut toujours attirer les meilleurs aux Etats-Unis. A l’avenir, les visas H1B feront une place plus belle aux titulaires d’un diplôme de troisième cycle. En janvier, le président leur a promis sur Twitter « un chemin potentiel vers la nationalité américaine. Nous voulons encourager les personnes les plus douées et talentueuses à poursuivre leur carrière aux Etats-Unis ».
Publicație : Le Monde
|
