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美国大学重新考虑与沙特阿拉伯的关系

时间:2018-11-18 15:37:45

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US Universities Reconsider Ties with Saudi Arabia

Colleges and universities in the United States have received more than $350 million from the government of Saudi Arabia over the past 10 years.

Yet some of these schools are reconsidering their ties with the government following the killing1 of Saudi journalist and writer Jamal Khashoggi. His death has led to international criticism of the oil-rich nation.

The Associated Press, or AP, examined U.S. federal records for information about the flow of Saudi money to American higher education. The news agency found that at least $354 million from the Saudi government or organizations it controls has gone to 37 American schools since 2011.

Much of the money was provided through a special scholarship program. It paid tuition for Saudis studying in the United States. But AP researchers found that at least $62 million came through deals with or gifts from Saudi Arabia’s nationally owned companies and research centers.

Two of the U.S. schools that received the most money did so through contracts with a top Saudi research center. It is called the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. It has provided $14 million to Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, since 2011. The University of California, Los Angeles accepted $6 million from the center.

In addition, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, Saudi Aramco, has given $20 million to U.S. colleges and universities. This amount includes $9 million to Texas A&M University, in College Station, Texas, and $4 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, in Boston. A national chemical company known as SABIC sent another $8 million to American schools.

Some of the contracts ended before 2017. But questions about Khashoggi’s death at the Saudi consulate2 in Istanbul have led some schools to reconsider current or future deals.

On October 22, MIT announced plans to launch a “swift, thorough” examination of its partnerships3 with Saudi Arabia. The institute called Khashoggi’s disappearance4 a serious concern.

Richard Lester is a member of the school’s administration. He said professors who work with Saudi Arabia can make their own decisions “as to the best path forward.”

MIT works with Saudi universities on research projects and has a long history of working with Saudi Aramco. In March, the company promised to give $25 million to the school for research in areas such as renewable energy and artificial intelligence.

The AP attempted to speak by telephone with officials at the Saudi Embassy in Washington earlier this week. It said they could not be reached for comment.

Babson College, near Boston, has received $2.5 million through a contract with the Saudi company SABIC. College officials told the AP they are watching events closely and gathering5 opinions from their community about how to move forward. Babson’s deal provides training to Saudi business leaders. And it also includes several other research and training partnerships between Babson and Saudi universities.

However, many other U.S. schools have shown no signs that they are reconsidering ties.

Officials at the University of California, Berkeley, said they are not examining their financial support from Saudi Arabia. The money includes a $6 million contract to develop special technology that can be used to support renewable energy. A university spokesman said the Saudi support represents only a small part of the contracts and grants that go to the school’s researchers.

Northwestern University refused to say whether any of its money from Saudi Arabia is under review. A spokesman said only that the majority of the $14 million is for science grants, but he did not answer other questions.

Others schools, including the University of Michigan, did not provide details about Saudi Arabia’s financial support.

Researchers looked at records from the U.S. Department of Education’s Foreign Gift and Contracts Report. It lists any U.S. university that received $250,000 or more in foreign money in a given year. The self-reported information lists money provided from 2011 through 2017.

The largest amounts of money came through a Saudi scholarship program that sends thousands of students to U.S. schools every year. The program provided $73 million to The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. George Mason University, in nearby Fairfax, Virginia, received $63 million.

The two schools said they will not refuse the scholarship money because it would cause them to reject the students it covers. George Mason admits about 250 Saudi students through the program each spring and autumn term.

America’s ties with Saudi Arabia have come under intense review since Khashoggi disappeared on October 2. President Donald Trump6 called it “the worst cover-up ever.” Activists7 and some U.S. politicians have called on the United States and its industries to break with the nation, and some have.

Three Washington-based businesses recently canceled business deals to represent Saudi interests in the United States. Several other companies have suspended work in Saudi Arabia. One of them is owned by businessman Richard Branson.

More recently, the pressure to break ties has expanded to colleges and universities.

For example, at Columbia University in New York, officials recently canceled a planned event with Saudi artist Ahmed Mater. Records show Columbia separately received a $1.1 million grant from the Saudi agriculture ministry8 in 2016. But officials said the school is not planning on receiving any other money from the country.

In some ways, the ties between American colleges and Saudi Arabia were set up to ease tensions between the two nations. The scholarship program was created in 2005 after leaders of both countries met to improve relations after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.

Since then, the program has sent tens of thousands of Saudis to study in the U.S. It reached its height in 2015, when more than 120,000 Saudis attended U.S colleges and universities. But numbers have fallen severely9 since 2016, when Saudi Arabia cut back on the program because of budget cuts tied to falling oil prices.

I’m Dorothy Gundy. And I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

journalist – n. a person whose job is collecting, writing, and editing news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio

scholarship – n. an amount of money that is given by a school or an organization to a student to help pay for the student's education

tuition – n. money that is paid to a school for the right to study there

contract(s) – n. a legal agreement between people or companies

swift – adj. happening or done quickly or immediately

thorough – adj. including every possible part or detail

renewable – adj. restored or replaced by natural processes

artificial intelligence – n. an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence

grant(s) – n. an amount of money that is given to someone by a government, or a company to be used for a particular purpose, such as scientific research

review – n. an act of carefully looking at or examining the quality or condition of something or someone

cover-up – n. a planned effort to hide a dishonest, immoral10, or illegal act or situation

tension(s) – n. a state in which people, groups, or countries disagree with and feel anger toward each other


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
2 consulate COwzC     
n.领事馆
参考例句:
  • The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
  • The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。
3 partnerships ce2e6aff420d72bbf56e8077be344bc9     
n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 );合伙人身份;合作关系
参考例句:
  • Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
  • It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句
4 disappearance ouEx5     
n.消失,消散,失踪
参考例句:
  • He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
  • Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。
5 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
6 trump LU1zK     
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
参考例句:
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
7 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 ministry kD5x2     
n.(政府的)部;牧师
参考例句:
  • They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
  • We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
9 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
参考例句:
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
10 immoral waCx8     
adj.不道德的,淫荡的,荒淫的,有伤风化的
参考例句:
  • She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
  • It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

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