Society

The lingering controversy surrounding the death of a young woman who committed suicide last month has brought into focus the alleged lack of sensitivity to the problems of out-of-town students in Shanghai's many colleges.

Yang Yuanyuan, a 30-year-old postgraduate student at Shanghai Maritime University, was found dead last month in the bathroom of the dormitory where she lived. Police said Yang used two towels to hang herself on a sink faucet in the toilet on Nov 26.

An unnamed letter posted on an online forum linking her death to her university has stirred protests from many people who blame the rigid rules of the university for trying to kick Yang's mother out of the residence - which it claimed pushed her to end her life.

Police in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have arrested 94 people listed as wanted after the July 5 riot in the regional capital, Urumqi.

They were among 382 people seized by Xinjiang police in a month-long "strike hard" campaign that started in early November, said a spokesman with the regional public security department.

He said he could give no details of what charges those arrested would face.

He said the campaign, which broke up 66 criminal rings, was aimed at enhancing social stability and dispelling public concern over security in the region after the July 5 riot.

The riot left 197 people, mostly Han Chinese, dead and 1,600 injured.

Volunteers have since helped maintain stability at communities and worked closely with public security authorities to prevent and stop crimes.

Police in Xinjiang have also intensified efforts to combat trafficking of women and children, illegal manufacturing and trading of explosives, unauthorized gun ownership and counterfeit cash, the spokesman said.

Fourteen people have been sentenced to death so far for murder and other crimes committed during the riot.

A panel of 42 experts in the fields of hygiene, agriculture, food and nutrition was set up Tuesday by the Chinese government to conduct risk assessment on food safety.

According to China's Food Safety Law, the expert committee shoulders the responsibilities of formulating risk monitoring and assessment schemes, establishing technical rules and explaining assessment result.

Minister of Health Chen Zhu said that over the next two years, the ministry would establish a national monitoring network for food contaminants and food-borne illness, and begin a national dietary research.

China's Ministry of Health has conducted risk assessment on food contaminants since the 1970s. After the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), it has intensified risk assessment on microbiology, chemical contaminants, additives and fortifier in food.

Food safety issues have become particularly sensitive in China since September last year after melamine-contaminated dairy products were found to have left at least six infants dead and sickened about 300,000 others.
 

It's easy to understand why college graduates in China feel dejected when they can't find jobs commensurate with their degree. After investing an enormous amount of time, effort and money in their education, they question whether their lifelong dreams will ever become a reality.

The numbers tell why. In 2003, China has about 19 million college students. The number of college graduates of 2010 will reach 6.3 million, as estimated by the Chinese Minstry of Education.

Yet of the 5.6 million college graduates in June 2008, 1.5 million were still unem-ployed in the fall, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

If it's any consolation, China is not alone. A similar scenario is playing out in the US, where students from even marquee-name colleges and universities are unemployed or underemployed in the worst economic meltdown since the Great De-pression.