"HEY, THAT'S MINE": U.S. STUDENT AT KAUST ACCUSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000424

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP (HARRIS, BERNDT),R (MCHALE,
DOUGLAS),NEA/PPD (DICKMEYER, AGNEW, BENZE) AND OES/EGC
(MURPHY, BROWN),DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2019
TAGS: KIPR KPAO SA SCUL SOCI
SUBJECT: "HEY, THAT'S MINE": U.S. STUDENT AT KAUST ACCUSES
SAUDI NEWSPAPER OF "BLOG THEFT"

REF: A. RIYADH 1342

B. JEDDAH 0342

C. RIYADH 1278

D. JEDDAH 0047

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Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Even before its star-studded September 23
official inauguration, the King Abdullah University of
Science and Technology (KAUST) was being heralded and closely
watched as a bold and unprecedented attempt by King Abdullah
to transform Saudi society from within (ref C). As expected
with any attempt at internal reform, KAUST has stirred
controversy over its policy of "gender integration," anathema
to many Saudi conservatives. Not long after its official
opening, a prominent religious scholar was fired from his
position in the elite Senior Ulema Council for criticizing
the university's policy of allowing men and women to interact
openly in public (ref A). While the university promises to
be a source of ongoing discussion in the national Saudi
dialogue, a level of frustration among the students
themselves, many of whom are American, has been building
since before the university's official opening. American
graduate students have been experiencing some of their own
particular cultural adjustment issues (ref B). Most
recently, a male American student and KAUST blogger accused
an Eastern Province newspaper of plagiarizing a post from his
blog. While the incident is one of the first notable
"culture clashes" at KAUST, it may not be the last. END
SUMMARY.

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WE FLEW 6,000 MILES FOR THIS?
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2. (C) Prior to the official opening of KAUST, several of
the American students complained to both university officials
and consulate officers about the substandard quality of
housing, with one student blogger posting photographs on the
Internet of what he claimed was "black mold" in his
apartment. Other students complained that the university had
no materials or laboratories ready for their courses, thus
delaying their likely graduation dates. Several students
said they had seriously considered leaving the university
altogether before the official opening, a move that would
have embarrassed the Saudi leadership. Ultimately, the fact
that the students received free tuition, air tickets,
housing, and generous stipends ($1700/monthly) led some to
reframe their expectations for KAUST as an "all-expense paid
cultural experience" (ref B).

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GETTING TO KNOW YOU, OR JUST BORROWING YOUR BLOG?
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3. (SBU) Notably, the first public event involving American
student discontent at KAUST arose not over aforementioned
university issues, but rather the plagiarism of an American
student's blog by a Saudi newspaper. On his October 13 blog
entry, an American KAUST student named Nathan accused Eastern
Province-based Arabic-language daily newspaper "Al Youm" of
using content from his October 7, 2009 blog entry entitled
"Elections" without his authorization. (NOTE: Both the
original post and the one accusing Al Youm of plagiarism can
be found at saudiaggie.blogspot.com. END NOTE.) The entry
provided details about recent student council elections at
KAUST, which was a mixed-gender event and included both Saudi
and international students. The formation of the student
council itself had come about due to student complaints about
inadequate and unsanitary housing conditions. Nathan also
claimed that the article published two photos from his blog
without his consent.


4. (SBU) The English-language blogging community, including
Saudi nationals who have studied in the U.S., was swift to
unite behind the KAUST blogger, condemning the apparent
plagiary as a violation of copyright laws. A number of
visitors to the blog noted that the photos that appeared in
"Al Youm" appeared to be identical to the ones on the blog.


5. (SBU) The "Al Youm" reporter responded to the American
blogger's accusations by posting his defense (which he
translated from Arabic to English with Google Translate) in

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the comments section of Saudi Aggie's blog. The reporter
denied the allegations of theft and refused to divulge the
source of his information. According to Consulate Dhahran,
the "Al Youm" reporter is a part-time employee of the
newspaper. The American student told poloffs that he is
writing off this incident as a "cultural experience" and is
unlikely to pursue legal avenues.

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COMMENT -- CLASH OF CULTURES
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6. (C) "Do intellectual rights to published thoughts and
photos have any value here?" exclaimed the American student
on his blog. It was not unexpected that American and other
western students at KAUST would chafe to some extent at the
expectations and strictures of Saudi society. What is
surprising is that the first public disagreement between
American students at KAUST and Saudi society occurred over an
intellectual property rights issue rather than, for example,
the extent to which males and females may mix socially on
campus. This event suggests that, while KAUST students are
aware of the more visible differences between Saudi and
western society, the less public aspects may prove to be the
greater irritant.


7. (C) We anticipate that American and other foreign students
at KAUST, with their modern values and expectations, will
continue to clash with Saudi cultural and societal norms. On
the one hand, the Saudis in charge believe that they are
being lenient and progressive in their attitudes, treating
KAUST as an exceptional case. In particular, they view the
"mixing of genders" in classrooms and labs at KAUST as a
major concession to Western standards. On the other hand,
many American students believe they are bending over
backwards in accommodating conservative Saudi traditions. At
some point, this mutual patience may wear thin. While, thus
far, the clash of cultures has not led to a major incident,
the potential is certainly there. END COMMENT.
QUINN