admission denied to iranian students

[space otter]

I think this probably goes here..but Z.. put it where ever


Iranian Students Feel 'Betrayed, Excluded, And Threatened' By UMass Policy


Posted:  02/17/2015 6:58 pm EST    Updated:  2 hours ago

Two student groups are decrying an "outrageous" University of Massachusetts Amherst policy that restricts Iranian citizens from enrolling in some engineering and science programs, arguing that the policy is "clearly in conflict with academic values and principles that prohibit discrimination."

The university first posted the policy denying admission to Iranian students planning to study in certain engineering and science fields last week, citing U.S. sanctions against their home country. UMass Amherst, the flagship campus of the UMass system, deleted the policy Friday morning after it was criticized online. That afternoon it reposted the policy and told news outlets the school was standing by it.

The Iranian Graduate Student Association and the Persian Student Association at UMass then established a Facebook page to drum up opposition to the admission ban. They released a statement over the weekend saying they felt "betrayed, excluded, and threatened" by the policy.

In an updated version of their statement on Tuesday, the student groups said:


We are in a state of distress, feel betrayed, and are worried for our friends and families who can no longer pursue their dreams of coming to America for an education. Coming to America as an Iranian is already difficult, and now UMass has made it much more intricate, with little explanation. UMass Amherst is voluntarily punishing us as a collective, because of what our home government does. We strongly believe UMass Amherst's recent policy implementation is arbitrary and discriminatory, and should not be tolerated.



UMass cited a section of a 2012 sanctions law stipulating that the U.S. Secretary of State shall deny a visa to an Iranian citizen seeking to study in the U.S. in order to launch a career in the energy sector or nuclear science or engineering fields in Iran. The university is restricting Iranians from enrolling in several "specific programs in the College of Engineering (i.e., Chemical Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering) and in the College of Natural Sciences (i.e., Physics, Chemistry, Microbiology, and Polymer Science & Engineering)."

The students contend that UMass is taking upon itself the State Department's role by barring Iranians. They also criticized the university's reading of federal law, calling it "broad" and saying the law "does not prohibit admission to all of the science fields."

A State Department official likewise told The Boston Globe that current law "does not prohibit qualified Iranian nationals coming to the United States for education in science and engineering." The Associated Press reported similar remarks from the State Department.

Roughly 79 percent of Iranian students in the U.S. study natural sciences, according to the student groups.

While the groups said they were not aware of any other U.S. college with a similar practice, Inside Higher Ed found that Virginia Commonwealth University has a stated policy of declining admission to Iranian citizens for "mechanical and nuclear engineering" graduate programs. The National Iranian American Council noted that, to the best of its knowledge, the Virginia university is the only other with such rules.

A UMass spokesperson said that it "is not alone among universities in its compliance with this or any other federal law," but declined to name any other universities with similar policies when asked by The Huffington Post on Tuesday. The school also declined to respond to the State Department's comments.


Read the full statement from the Iranian Graduate Student Association and the Persian Student Association below:
UMass Iranian Student Statement by Tyler Kingkade

go to link for the statement
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/17/iranian-students-umass_n_6698822.html



now the article I posted in humor the other day
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/forum/index.php?topic=7861.0
makes sense to me..

please  don't interpret making sense with agreement..

right now I am in observation mode....

[petrus4]

I am going to try very hard to resist the temptation to respond to Islamic-related threads on this site, from now on.

The reason why is because at the moment, I am trying to cultivate the habit of being in an emotionally positive state, as close to constantly as I can, and to treat everyone around me as well as possible, both on and offline.  Because I genuinely, viscerally hate Islam however, any focus on said religion makes the above objective, virtually impossible for me to achieve.

As a result, I'm simply going to try and completely shut it out of my sphere, because I really do not know of any other way to deal with it. 

Muslims as a group, do not have my consent to continue to exist. 

You can consider me a vile or hateful individual for having said attitude; I do, nonetheless.  Said attitude does not mean that I have any desire to be actively violent or discriminatory towards them in any way; it simply means that I wish to live in the functional equivalent of a world where Islam genuinely does not exist.  Because I am still fortunate to live in an area with virtually no Islamic population, I can thankfully still do that.

I would strongly encourage everyone else here to adopt the same strategy, to the degree that it is within your capability.  As someone who at least tries to be an individual of conscience, Islam represents for me an overwhelming moral failure.

I accept that failure, and invoke the Meidung against Islam. 

To Mohammad and all who follow him, I cast you out.  Do not enter my sight, do not enter my presence, do not enter my hearing, do not enter my mind.  Let your strife and chaos infect and trouble me no more.  Let these words echo from one end of the unending astral light to the other.  Let them be heard, and let it be so.

[ArMaP]

Muslims as a group, do not have my consent to continue to exist. 

You can consider me a vile or hateful individual for having said attitude; I do, nonetheless.

No, just another person that, for some strange reason, doesn't apply his intelligence to all things. 

[zorgon]

This goes to the 'Restricted Technology' problem...

Since the general populace knows that the terrorists that took out 9/11 got pilot training in the US  I can imagine that teaching certain subjects to members of a country that is declared your enemy would not be wise

You have no way of knowing if these Iranian students are legit and not just using us to teach them how to blow us up

Problem today is that people no longer immigrate to get away from their old life, but want to establish themselves in our country

Imagine we get North Korean 'students' wanting to take missile engineering and rocket science. Considering that North Korea has problems making ICBM's to attack us with, is this a good idea?

Where do you draw the line between racism and protecting your way of life?

Livingmoon and Pegasus is blocked in many countries because of the info we carry. While it may be public knowledge here in the USA, it is not allowed for certain foreign nations. Sure hackers and spies are getting it but let's not give it to them on a silver platter

Remember the War in Iraq?  How we bombed the airplanes we sold them?  We sold them fighter jets, we trained their pilots, when Saddam was on our side against Iran... but we didn't teach them to fly COMBAT and we didn't sell them the maintenance package. so the planes were sitting on the ground in nice neat rows to blow up when Saddam was no longer our friend

So what do we do today?

This is direct from the DoD  not some woo woo site

Iraqi Pilots to Train on Iraqi-purchased F-16s in Arizona

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2014 – The initial group of F-16 fighter jets purchased by Iraq will be delivered to Tucson, Arizona, for Iraqi pilot training due to the security situation in Balad in Iraq, Defense Department spokesman Army Col. Steven Warren said here today.
Speaking to Pentagon reporters, the colonel discussed plans to send the aircraft to Arizona rather than Balad, where earlier this year delivery was originally planned.
"We had talked earlier in the summer about F-16s that the Iraqis had purchased," Warren said. "They were due to go to Balad Air Base."
The security situation still does not allow that, he said, so the initial group of F-16s will now be delivered to Tucson where there are Iraqi pilots currently in a training pipeline.
Security in Balad previously impacted the delivery of the aircraft when advances by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants triggered the evacuation from the air base of contractors who were part of the transfer process.
Iraqis Will Train With Their Own Aircraft
Following delivery of the fighters, Warren said, the Iraqi pilots in flight school in Arizona will begin to train on their own aircraft.
"We are going to deliver three F-16s to Tucson in December," he said. "And then one per month after that through May for a total of eight F-16s."
"We expect the Iraqi pilots will begin flying their own aircraft for continuation training beginning in January," Warren said. "All maintenance for the F-16s will be provided by [contracted] logistic support."
Warren said the Iraqi pilots have been using training aircraft -- not their own purchased aircraft -- for this training program.
"So they're continuing their training," he said, "but instead of training using U.S. training aircraft they will now use their own aircraft in Tucson."
(Follow Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone Marshall on Twitter: @MarshallDoDNews)

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123611

[zorgon]

Our Universities like MIT and Wisconsin/Madison  teach and do research on myriads of sensitive government projects like fusion research, DEW weapons and other goodies...

Do we really want to take a chance and let foreign students have access to such knowledge when we don't really know where their loyalties lie?

Using the racist card is far too easy  Besides 'racist' is wrong  Arabs are Caucasian 

[Pimander]

Muslims as a group, do not have my consent to continue to exist. 

I don't think religious groups need your consent to exist. LOL 

[petrus4]

I don't think religious groups need your consent to exist. LOL 

Whether or not they need it, is not the point.