A delegation from India's Annamalai University came Thursday tocelebrate the student/faculty exchange and study abroad programmingwith Ball State University.
The representatives were comprised of L. B. Venkatrangan, vicechancellor; M. Rathinasabapathi, registrar; and Venugopal P. Menon,professor and head of the department of biochemistry.
Besides giving technical presentations and interacting withfaculty and students, Venkatrangan gave a public lecture titled,"Population Dynamics in India with Special Emphasis onFertility."
Venkatrangan, who specializes in population studies, brought uptopics relating to the world's population, saying by the year 2050,India will be the world's most populous country, with China comingin second.
"It is estimated that the [world] population will be 9 billionby 2050," Venkatrangan said.
Venkatrangan spoke about several possible contributions to thisgrowth, emphasizing that India's high birth rate and the decreasein the death rate is the most prevalent factor.
"Here [in the United States] it's considered a big deal to getmarried at 16 or 17, so when [Venkatrangan] said that children gotmarried, I was really shocked," said John Anderson, graduatestudent and counseling major.
The topic of study abroad opportunities was presented after thelecture.
Jeremy Fair, a graduate assistant in the music department, saidhe stayed in India for two of three weeks; the third week was spenttransporting.
"It was wonderful," Fair said. "I got to see the sun setting onone side and the full moon on the other. The sun was just a hugeorange fireball. We were right there in the Bay of Bengal, in theIndian Ocean, on a boat heading from the shore to a huge sandbarge."
Along with participating in yoga and meditation each day, Fairsaid he got to delve into the heart of the city and sit in on musicclasses.
"I strongly encourage everyone to participate in the program,"Fair said. "It's really a life-changing experience."
Jay Bagga, chair and professor of the department of computerscience said, "The idea is for our students to have internationalexperience during their education at Ball State."
This is the fifth year that Annamalai and Ball State have workedtogether in exchanges and study abroad.
"This is the first time the visitors [from Annamalai] have cometogether," Bagga said. "They represent many different fields."
The International Center in the Student Center has informationon studying abroad. A study abroad fair will take place Wednesdayon the second floor of the Art and Journalism building.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
