Word: minh
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...scientist Bernard Vonnegut, brother of author Kurt. Countries quickly adopted it. Over the three decades following its introduction, the U.S. spent many millions of dollars a year on the technology. It was even used for a while during the Vietnam War to increase rainfall on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to hamper supply movement. By the 1980s, however, the science of cloud seeding acquired a snake-oil whiff, as disreputable private companies tried hawking it to desperate, drought-ridden communities. Within the decade, it had fallen out of favor...
...enjoyed a colorful history. Countries around the world quickly adopted the technology, and over the three decades following its introduction, the U.S. spent many millions of dollars a year on weather modification. It was even used during the Vietnam War to increase rainfall on the Ho Chi Minh trail to hamper supply movement, until word got out and the U.S. agreed not to play with the weather while making war. In the 1970s, the science of cloud seeding acquired a whiff of the snake oil, as disreputable private companies tried hawking it to desperate, drought-ridden communities...
...Education officials acknowledge that quality, and not just numbers, is an issue. The élite who make it into university find that their centrally controlled curriculum is steeped in "Ho Chi Minh Thought," with the level of courses - from law to engineering to computer science - mediocre. Professors' pay and promotion are based on seniority, not merit, and they rarely publish in international journals. "Vietnam drastically needs education reform," says Adam Sitkoff, director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi...
...Vallely, part of a delegation of U.S. educators who met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet during his recent visit to the U.S., says Vietnam needs a world-class flagship school - the equivalent of Tsinghua University in China or India's Institutes of Technology. Existing schools, he says, need autonomy to build their own curriculum and compete for students. "These kids who do make the cut and go to school are very smart," Vallely says. "They're just not getting much of an education when they get there." If that doesn't change, Vietnam may wind up cheating itself...
...Vallely, who was recently part of a delegation of U.S. educators that met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Trietalong to promote reform, says Vietnam needs a world-class flagship school - the equivalent of India's Institutes of Technology or Tsinghua University in China. Existing schools, he says, need autonomy to build their own curriculum and compete for students. "These kids who do make the cut and go to school are very smart," Vallely says. "They're just not getting much of an education when they get there." And if that doesn't change, Vietnam may only be cheating itself...