Students demand security boost in wake of USC murder

International students at the University of South California (USC) have called for beefed up security measures after Ji Xinran, a Chinese electrical engineering graduate, was attacked and later found dead on July 24.

Ji's killing marked the second deadly attack on Chinese USC students since two were shot dead on campus in April 2012.

According to The Wall Street Journal, USC enrolled more than 9,800 international students between 2012 and 2013 with more than one third from China. The university has enrolled more Chinese students than any other in the country in the past 12 years.

Besides its outstanding academic achievement, Chinese students are attracted to the university as it is in Los Angeles, an area with a large Chinese community.

After the two Chinese students were murdered in 2012, the university stationed 40 additional security officers around the campus and installed 80 cameras.

Security measures cannot protect students outside the campus however. Liang Jia, a Chinese graduate of the university, said many international students have to live outside due to limited dormitory accommodation.

A July 29 open letter to the principal from the USC Chinese Students and Scholars Association suggested the university enhance security, including day-long guard patrols and, in time issue safety warnings to students living both inside and outside the institution.