Sequel - Fall 2007 - (Page 11) With her assistantship ending in May, Zoe leaves the United States just in time to observe 6/4 at home, quietly, with friends and family. “It is more than the story we are told,” she says. “I was only 5 years old when it happened. I did not know what was going on and my parents did not tell me,” she says. “As I have grown up, I’ve found there are other interpretations of the incident than the official explanation we learn in China, but I believe 6/4 helped our country to grow and to begin a cycle of prosperity.” Another Chinese T.A. will follow Zoe this fall, and again, Bauer is thrilled. “As China is changing so dramatically, Utah Valley students need to be increasingly prepared to meet the associated challenges. Having these language Fulbright assistants come to our campus is an amazing opportunity for Utah Valley students to become familiar with the brightest China has to offer, and to become comfortable working with them.” A When asked about the dichotomy of working in both controlled- and free-press societies, Liang says, “In China you write and feel as though you are being helpful to the government, and you gain notoriety and become trusted.” In America, Liang describes the role of a journalist as “very different.” The American press takes on the role of “government watchdog” and “people’s advocate.” To Liang, “Both roles are equal, just different.” THE CHINA CONNECTION 中國連接 BOY IN BEIJING 一個男孩在北京 “Growing up in Beijing, UVSC Assistant Professor of Journalism Jingdong Liang says, “As a child, I thought of Beijing as a poor place. The cars are not good, the streets are dirty and there is not much opportunity here.” The son of a governmentappointed engineer, Liang was spared from poverty as both parents worked to provide a living. Participating in the government’s primitive, yet free education system, Liang proved himself an academic standout among his peers. And in a post-Mao era, and with an interest in China’s political system and a love for writing, he trained to write for the government-owned Xinhua News Agency. Ambitious to publish, he often submitted articles to China Daily and People’s Daily, the two most popular daily newspapers of the People’s Republic of China. After working as a journalist for several years, Liang earned one of the few highly sought after visas for his high-performance testing and perhaps recognizable name as a national reporter. In America, Liang earned a doctoral degree in journalism at the University of Utah before joining UVSC. Through UVSC student and faculty connections with China and the enlightenment found as a result of Bauer’s faculty and administration’s visit this summer, the handwriting is on the wall. His mission to educate both students and faculty about the amazing changes in Chinese society is finding purchase in the lives of those touched by the experience. “ Whether our graduates end up working in Utah Valley or in another country,” says Dean Stanley Jenne, of the School of Business, “they will be increasingly competing with very well-prepared and well-educated young adults. It is essential for our students to understand the East Asia phenomenon, no matter what their field of study. “The information I gained in China is so valuable,” Jenne continued. It opened my eyes as to how we must help prepare our graduates to leave Utah Valley University with a global vision and the training to compete and succeed in a global market.” SEQUEL YOUR WAY FEEDBACK Send comments to the writer at melynda.burt@uvsc.edu 文 學 教 授 P R O F E S S O R O F L I T E R A T U R E L I N G L I N G Z O E 傳 播 學 教 授 P R O F E S S O R C O M M U N I C A T OI FO N S J I N G D O N G L I A N G utah valley state college alumni magazine FA L L 2 0 0 7 11
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