Unwritten rules rampant on campus

By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-11 09:52

It may have been a crime of passion, but the recent stabbing of a Beijing college professor over an affair with a student has lifted the lid on an academic system riddled with corruption and scandal.

Fu Chengli was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on Oct 20 for the murder of Cheng Chunming, 43, last year. He refused his right to appeal the conviction.

The 23-year-old, a student at the China University of Political Science and Law, fatally stabbed Chen in the neck because he believed the lecturer was having an affair with his girlfriend.

Fu's lawyer Ding Haiyang later confirmed the girl, a postgrad student surnamed Chen, admitted she was sleeping with her professor in order to secure a place on the college's PhD scheme, according to media reports.

The incident is an extreme case of the dark practices happening every day at colleges across China, say education and legal experts.

Between 1998 and last year, 54 cases of corruption had been uncovered in universities in Haidian district alone, according to statistics from the district procuratorate. There was only one case reported in 2004, but that figure rose to 15 in 2006.

In August, renowned professor Liang Maocun, 70, of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, admitted to having sex with a female student and accepting a bribe of 100,000 yuan ($14,000) in return for an assurance she would be entered into the college PhD scheme.

Many experts agree that there are many unwritten rules of college.

Chang Jiwen, a professor in social law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said campus scandals were becoming rampant and blamed an overall unhealthy social environment.

"Professors conduct academic plagiarism and parents bribe to make sure their children achieve. What do you expect students to learn under that kind of environment?" he said.

With rogue parents and professors as their "role models", more students are taking shortcuts as they fear being smart may not be enough to success at university, he said.

Ding Mingyuan, a second-year student at the University of International Relations, said that many students bribe leaders of special interest clubs with meals and gifts to secure their place as the next leader because they can significantly increase employment opportunities.

"The only reason many students join clubs is to improve their resume," he said.

"There are about 100 interest clubs at my university and each club has around 50 members, but on average only 10 regularly participate in club activities."

In another case, a postgraduate student at Beihang University, who asked not to be named, said he had received a doctoral course admission without taking exams, because he had used his social relations to get a project for a professor's company.

Other unwritten rules include students having to buy books written by a professor to pass a course, giving professors gifts at festival times, and possibly even skipping class to work free for a professor's company.

Liu Fang, a teacher on youth league committee at Beijing University of Technology, said students involved in these practices risk damaging their credibility.

"If a teacher or future employer finds out how these kinds of students get ahead, it may ruin their credibility at school or work," said Liu.

Parents also frown upon such practices.

"I don't want my son to achieve his goals by bribing professors," said Liu Mingde, father of a postgrad at Beihang University.

"Professors should not favor students who fawn over them, they should treat them all equally."

However, human resources expert Wei Hong, former HR director for Chinese computer company Lenovo, said becoming a club leader does look good to companies, even if achieving it involved buying gifts and meals.

"Whatever people say, I know companies prefer students who have social ability over students who only know how to get good marks," he said.

Chang believed fair, open and just are the best ways to solve the problems.

"Education authorities should make universities' managerial and financial information open to the public," he said.

"Any type of corruption and scams will die out under public exposure."