SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco offered a lecture on personal safety and possible risks for about 200 Chinese students and scholars studying in northern California on Saturday.
Deputy Chinese Consul General Zou Yonghong said the Chinese Consulate General attaches great importance to the safety and security of Chinese students studying in American schools in Northern California.
What is the most important is that the students themselves must raise their awareness about safety and security amid the increasingly complicated situation in the United States, and learn how to deal with various kinds of emergencies, Zou said.
The Chinese Consulate General invited experts from China and the San Francisco Bay Area to educate the students on addressing psychological and legal problems, such as measures to relieve stress resulting from heavy workloads.
A lawyer from the Silicon Valley-based Grandall Law Firm discussed some pressing issues that university students might encounter, including patent policies of different schools, intellectual property rights, domestic violence and sexual harassment.
A survey released by the Association of American Universities early this month showed nearly one in four undergraduate female students who attended Stanford University for four years or more has experienced some form of non-consensual sexual contact or misconduct.
Similar cases have also taken place in other American universities and colleges, according to the survey on university on-campus sexual violence and harassment.
Officials from the consulate general showed many specific examples about students' injuries or deaths to remind the audience to remain vigilant and behave in a more responsible way.
One case discussed concerned a Chinese student who was found to be driving over the speed limit, throwing a passenger out of the car and killing the passenger.
The lecture also mentioned the tragedy of Zhang Yingying, a female Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who was kidnapped and murdered in 2017 by a former graduate from the same university as she was given a ride at the wrong time and place.
Fiona Xu, a sophomore at the California College of the Arts, said she had learnt how to overcome academic stress during the midterms and finals.
"Such stress, if not properly addressed, could cause many psychological and even mental problems," she said. "The lecture was a timely bonus for us newcomers."
