40 % of new UMS intake from Sabah
KOTA KINABALU:
Forty percent of the 4,065 new Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students for the 2008/2009 intake is from Sabah. The remaining 60 percent is from the other states in the country as well as from foreign countries. “For this year’s intake, we are taking in 75 international students who are mostly from China,” newly appointed Vice Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Professor Datuk Dr Kamaruzaman Hj Ampon, disclosed yesterday at the UMS Chancellor Hall during the first day registration for the 2008/2009 new students intake. He said the School of Science and Technology had the highest student intake compared with 12 other schools. The school will accept 745 students followed by the Engineering and Information Technology School with an intake of 556 students. The other schools are Labuan International Business and Finance (556 students), Business and Economic (542), Psychology and Social Work (350), Social Sciences (298), International Tropical Forestry (221), Labuan Informatics Science (215), Education and Social Development (213), Food Science and Nutrition (172), Sustainable Agriculture (110), Arts Studies (104) and Medical School (80). He said this was the fifth intake for the medical program and the first group would graduate during the MS’s 10th convention this year. On the safety level in the University, Kamaruzaman said they were giving top priority to the matter. He said the University had taken several initiatives, especially in crime prevention to enhance the security level in the campus. Meanwhile, Kamaruzaman urged the private sector to work together with UMS to do more research on its findings so that they can be commercialized. He said such effort would contribute to the wealth of the nation. “Actually we have a lot of potential fmdings that can be commercialized. To achieve that, we need cooperation from the private sector or venture capitalists,” he said. Kamaruzaman pointed out among the areas that have potential to be developed are processing oil palm waste into bricks. “It’s cheaper and more economical for building houses,” he said, adding that UMS had also carried out research and development on using herbal plants to produce medicines and cosmetics. “However, only a few members of the private sector have come forward or brave enough to take up this opportunity as they were scared of taking the risks,” said Kamaruzaman. He added UMS is hoping for involvement from the private sector as the University does not have enough funds to finance the cost to commercialize its findings.
