This week, Georgetown will partner with the China Scholarship Council to host the 2011 China Higher Education Exhibition. The event will take place on Thursday from 12:00-7:30 p.m. in the Fisher Colloquium of the Hariri building.

Featuring representatives from 24 prominent Chinese universities, the CSC hopes to encourage more students to study abroad in China by providing information on programs for bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, Ph.D.s, and senior scholars, as well as scholarships and language programs.

The China Scholarship Council is a non-profit organization affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education with the mission of “strengthen[ing] the friendship and understanding between Chinese people and the people of all other countries” by developing educational, scientific, technological, and cultural exchanges.

This is one of two China-related events going on this week on campus. The other one, a panel discussion tonight in McShane entitled “Striking the Balance: Georgetown’s Engagement with China,” focuses on the morality behind Georgetown’s relationship with the country.

Photo from Chinese-flag.org

On Tuesday evening, the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice, the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, and the GU College Democrats presented “I am Troy Davis: The Execution of Troy Davis and the Death Penalty” to a full house in Copley Formal Lounge. Featured speakers included Davis’s sister Kimberly Davis, cofounder of the Campaign to end the Death Penalty and death row exoneree Lawrence Hayes, author, activist, an filmmaker Jen Marlowe, and director of Amnesty International’s US Death Penalty Abolition Campaign Laura Moye.

Troy Davis was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the 1989 murder of a man in Georgia. Since his trial, all but two of the 34 witnesses who testified against him have recanted their testimonies. Davis was scheduled for execution three times, but due to too much doubt surrounding his guilt they were delayed up to his final execution on September 21, 2011. His trial and death sparked sadness, outrage, and demonstrations around the world calling for a change in the justice system.

Kimberly Davis emphasized the human aspect of the trial and execution for her family. She shared stories of her brother’s faith, his love for his family, and how he wanted them “to continue his legacy, to continue to prove his innocence, and to show that there are flaws in the death penalty.” While the twenty years that Troy Davis spent on death row were difficult, Kimberly Davis emphasized the bond that formed because of them.

“Throughout the years our family just grew closer and closer,” she said.

Lawrence Hayes, who was awaiting execution in a prison on New York in the 1970s until Furman vs. Georgia abolished the death penalty in the state, noted that “we need to show more sense of appreciation, value, and respect for life”.

The other speakers urged Georgetown students to get involved in shaping the American judicial system and other social movements. Suggestions included joining the death penalty abolition movements in Virginia and Maryland and establishing an Amnesty International club on campus.

Photo by Max Blodgett.

Boys and young men should be vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, to prevent throat and anal cancers, a federal advisory board for the Center of Disease Control announced early last week. The board recommended the vaccine for boys ages 11 and 12, as well as young men ages 13 through 21 who have not already received all three shots. Vaccinations may be given to males ages 9 through 26.

Work on this controversial vaccine began at Georgetown Medical Center during the 1980s.  In 2006, Dr. Richard Schlegel, current chairman of the Georgetown’s Department of Pathology, developed the first HPV vaccine to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Initially, the vaccine was recommended for girls age 11 through 26, with disappointing participation.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in American adults, with more than 80% of women in the United States carrying some strain of it by age 50. HPV causes almost all strains of cervical cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide. It can also cause anal and throat cancers in men.

The announcement is likely to change the use of the vaccine since most private insurers pay for vaccines after the committee recommends them for routine use. The three doses of the HPV vaccine cost pediatricians $300, and patients are often charged hundreds more.

The HPV vaccine has become controversial since it prevents diseases that result from sexual activity. Despite that the vaccine was developed by Georgetown researchers, the University’s distribution of the vaccine has been a topic of debate in recent years.

Photo from Babble.