http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/07/nyregion/cecilia-chang-ex-dea Ex-Dean of St. John’s Is Found Dead at Home Ex-Dean of St. John’s, on Trial for Stealing Over $1 Million, Is Found Dead at Home By MOSI SECRET and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM Published: November 6, 2012 http://cn.nytimes.com/article/education/2012/11/08/c08dean/zh-h 美大學傳奇華裔院長受審後自殺 MOSI SECRET, WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM 聯合報道2012年11月08日 翻譯:陶夢縈、黃錚 Hers was the kind of rise through the academic ranks that could have epitomized the American dream, if not for the way she crashed. Fresh from Taiwan in 1975, she enrolled at St. John’s University as a student in Asian studies, becoming a dean in just five years and, soon after, winning the ear of the university’s top echelon as she raised more than $20 million for the school. 若不是因為她的倒台,她此前扶搖直上的學術生涯本可以算是美國夢的縮影。1975年, 她剛剛從台灣來到美國,就讀於聖約翰大學(St. John’s University)的亞洲研究專業 。但她在五年時間後就成為學院院長,隨後很快又為學校籌款逾2000萬美元(約合1.2 億元人民幣),從而贏得了大學高層的重視。 But the dean, Cecilia Chang, fought her way up driven by the same ambition and greed that would pull her down, accused of stealing more than $1 million from the school and using foreign scholarship students as her personal servants, prosecutors said during a three-week trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. 但對章曙彤(Cecilia Chang)院長來說,同樣的野心和慾望,既是她奮鬥的動力,也是 斷送了她的原因。在布魯克林聯邦地區法院(Federal District Court)為期三周的審判 中,她被指控挪用學校資金逾100萬美元,並役使獲得獎學金的外國留學生做她的私仆。 Hours after Dr. Chang took the stand in a desperate attempt to try to explain her actions, she was found dead in her multimillion-dollar home in Queens, one of the prizes of her swift ascent. Investigators said they believed she had committed suicide. 就在章曙彤出庭,百般自辯之後幾個小時,她被發現死在了自己皇后區的百萬豪宅中, 這所豪宅也是她青雲直上獲得的戰利品之一。調查人員認為她死於自殺。 Dr. Chang’s lawyers had tried to reach her on Tuesday, and when they could not, they called her son and suggested he call the police. He did, and officers entered the home and discovered her body. 章曙彤的律師周二曾試圖和她取得聯繫。由於聯繫未果,律師打通了她兒子的電話,並 建議他報警。警方在接到報警後進入章曙彤的住所,發現她已經死亡。 The beginning of the end came in 2010, when Dr. Chang was arrested and charged in the case. Prosecutors said she had used her position to recruit students to the school, promising them scholarships but threatening to expel them if they did not perform her household chores, including washing her underwear by hand. 這一切都始於2010年,章曙彤被逮捕並被起訴。檢察官指出,她曾利用職位之便為學校 招生,並向學生做出獎學金承諾,但後又威脅學生,如果他們不為她做家務,她就把他 們開除。這些家務活包括手洗她的內衣。 They said she had created bank accounts in the students’ names, shuffling around tens of thousands of dollars that would ultimately end up in her pocket. 檢察官還指出,她用學生的名字開設銀行賬戶,並在不同賬戶間轉移了數萬美元,這些 錢最終落入她的腰包。 The government assembled a case so strong that Dr. Chang’s lawyers could hardly offer a defense in opening statements. She had taken the money, her lawyer said, but it was owed to her. The students had performed her chores, but not under duress. 政府掌握了此案的有力證據,以至於章曙彤的律師在開庭陳述時幾乎無法做出辯護。她 的律師說,她拿了那些錢,但那是欠她的錢。學生確實為她做家務,但並不是被迫的。 Prosecutors called students and university officials to the stand, and they piled mounds of incriminating evidence atop Dr. Chang. She took the stand in her own defense, against the advice of her lawyers, providing the only defense evidence offered before her death. The presiding judge in the case, Sterling Johnson Jr., declared a mistrial after her death was confirmed. 學生和校方在檢察官的傳喚下出庭作證,提供了大量足以定罪的證據。章曙彤不顧律師 的建議,出庭為自己辯護。她的證詞是她死之前唯一的辯護證詞。該案的主審法官小斯 特林•約翰遜(Sterling Johnson Jr.)在她被確認死亡後宣布審判無效。 The case was a reminder that trials are often where human dramas play out writ small. A courtroom tends to be an orderly, civilized place where jurors hear testimony about things that happened in the past. But beyond the metal detectors and the security guards, life can be much more grisly. 此案提醒我們,法庭上的審判通常只是人間戲劇的縮略。法庭往往是一個文明有序的場 所,陪審員在法庭上聆聽過去發生的案情。但在金屬探測器和安保人員之外,真實生活 可能更加可怕。 Dr. Chang’s defense lawyers released a statement on Tuesday. “Cecilia Chang dedicated 30 years of her life to St. John’s University,” it said. “She was a prolific fund-raiser and tireless advocate for her beloved Asian Studies Program at the University. Her death today is a sad ending to a complex human drama.” 他們後來發表了一份聲明。 聲明中說,“章曙彤為聖約翰大學奉獻了30年的生命。她是一名成就頗豐的籌款人,不 知疲倦地支持她鍾愛的聖約翰亞洲研究課程。她今天的去世,給一出曲折的人間戲劇畫 上了一個悲傷的結尾。” Dominic Scianna, a spokesman for the university, said: “St. John’s University was saddened to learn this morning of the death of Cecilia Chang. We ask the entire St. John’s community to pray for her and her family.” 大學發言人多米尼克•希安納(Dominic Scianna)說,“聖約翰大學今早得知章曙 彤的死訊,不勝悲痛。我們希望全體聖約翰人為她和她的家人祈禱。” Separately, Judge Johnson, known for filling his sixth floor courtroom with levity, did not scale back when the news turned grim. 與此同時,以風格輕鬆活潑著稱的案件主審法官小斯特林•約翰遜聽到被告的死 訊,卻並沒有收斂一貫的作風。 “Sayonara,” Judge Johnson said, adding that Dr. Chang had gotten everything off her chest in the previous day’s testimony. “We never know how an individual handles the pressure.” He called the turn of events a “ Shakespearean tragedy.” “沙揚娜拉(原文為日語sayonara,意為“再見”——編注),”約翰遜法官說。他補 充說,章曙彤在前一天的證言中說出了壓在心中的所有的話。“我們永遠不知道一個人 是怎樣面對壓力的。”他還將事情的轉折稱為一樁“莎士比亞式的悲劇”。 At one point, the prosecutors hugged each other and the investigators in the case. 公訴人一度互相擁抱,還擁抱了搜集證據的探員。 As the drama unfolded in the courtroom, Dr. Chang’s son, Steven, the subject of much courtroom testimony about the chores his mother’s students had performed for him, was outside of his mother’s house, prevented from entering by the police. 案情在法庭上展開的同時,章曙彤的兒子史蒂文(Steven)被警察擋在了母親家門外。法 庭證言中,母親的學生為他做的家務活成為一大話題。 The court was waiting to hear from the police about whether the son had seen the body. The judge was satisfied that she had killed herself after the police said they had shown a photo of Dr. Chang to a neighbor, who said it was her. 至於史蒂文是否已經看過了母親的屍體,法庭正在等警方的消息。史蒂文是否看過了屍 體?警察說,他們給鄰居出示了一張章曙彤的照片,鄰居確認那就是她。法官接受了她 是自殺的結論。 The judge did not immediately inform the jurors of what happened, keeping them in a separate room until the death was confirmed. In private, he told them, “Dr. Chang is no longer with us,” according to several jurors who were present at the conversation. 法官沒有立即告知陪審團發生的事情,死訊確認前一直讓他們待在一個單獨的房間里。 根據當時在場的幾個陪審員的說法,法官私下裡告訴了陪審員,“章博士已經不在了”。 All said the news came as a surprise. 所有人都說消息太令人震驚了。 “My first thought was that she fled the country,” said a juror from Nassau County who did not want to give his full name. 要求隱瞞姓氏的納蘇縣(Nassau)陪審員弗蘭克(Frank)說,“我的第一反應是她逃出國 了。” “We’re shocked,” said Joan Bophy, a juror from Staten Island. “And it’ s a shame. She probably punished herself more than anybody would.” 來自斯塔滕島的瓊•博菲(Joan Bophy)說,“我們震驚了。很遺憾。本來可能沒 有人會對她判得那麼重。” Some said she did not look right and thought it strange that she had seemed to implicate herself in her testimony. 他們回憶了她前一天的證詞,尋找可能預示了後來發生的事的跡象。一些人稱,她看起 來不對勁,她在前一天的證言中似乎承認自己涉案,這讓他們覺得奇怪。 “You could see she was stressed, really stressed,” Ms. Bophy said. “She was digging herself a deeper hole.” 博菲說,“你可以看到她有壓力,非常有壓力。她讓自己越陷越深。” 翻譯:陶夢縈、黃錚 Some learned for the first time about an article in The Daily News on Monday reporting that Dr. Chang was a suspect in her husband’s murder more than 20 years ago. 有些陪審員剛剛聽說紐約時報本星期一一篇文章報導章博士涉嫌與二十年前其前夫被謀 殺有關。 A person with knowledge of that case said that after they were divorced, Dr. Chang’s husband was shot and lived for 10 days before dying. He told investigators before he died that he recognized the person who shot him, and said his wife must have paid the person to do it. 有一位瞭解此案的認識說,章博士和前夫離婚後,前夫被槍殺,在醫院住了二十天後死 亡。前夫死前告訴警方調查人員,他認識兇手,一定是其前妻買凶殺人。 Detectives were unable to corroborate his statement, which alone was not sufficient to support a case, and she was thus never charged. Dr. Chang saw the report before she testified. 探員們無法證實章曙彤的前夫的陳述。這種陳述本事不足以支持立案。所以,章曙彤從 未被指控。這次章博士出庭作證前,她看過這篇報刊報導。 A version of this article appeared in print on November 7, 2012, on page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: Ex-Dean of St. John’s, on Trial for Stealing Over $1 Million, Is Found Dead at Home. 本文的一個版本刊登于2012年11月7日紐約時報紐約版A24頁,標題是: “聖約翰大學前院長因盜用公款受審期間死於家中”