International Students

Dan Rodricks ' recent column ("Seeing Dream Act Kids as 'our own,'" May 26) completely misses the point by comparing the children of people here illegally with international students. This is a case of comparing apples to oranges and is surprising coming from a journalist of Mr. Rodricks' experience. Universities these days belong to the corporate sector. They are run like for-profit businesses because that is the only way they can stay competitive and survive financially.

Students at Baltimore International College are being thrown under the bus. The school is closing, and as of August 31, it will not be considered an accredited college. Students must now find another college to continue their education. Most students like myself have already purchased books for a semester that was supposed to start July 11. Those who depended on work study are now unemployed. We also now face new college application fees and charges for other documents we may need.

Towson University is creating a name for itself in Asia by attracting Korean and Japanese students to its fast-growing summer language and culture program. This year, about 92 foreign students are coming to Towson for a month as part of the school's Summer in Maryland program. Almost all are from Japan and Korea. The program is aimed at international students visiting the United States for the first time. It gives them a chance to work on their English language skills and understanding of American culture.

I am appalled at the trivialization that Dan Rodricks has placed on the issue of the "Dream Act" being about education of international students ("Seeing Dream Act students as 'our own," May 25). The issue he fails to address is the proper spending of our state taxes on legal Maryland residents and the drive to stop the continual misuse of funds by our state legislature and our state executive branch. I am a Maryland resident, but I cannot always say I am a proud Maryland resident because of the continual missteps of our elected officials.

Towson University is creating a name for itself in Asia by attracting Korean and Japanese students to its fast-growing summer language and culture program. This year, about 92 foreign students are traveling to Towson for a month as part of the school's "Summer in Maryland" program. Almost all are from Japan and Korea. The program is aimed at international students visiting the United States for the first time. It gives them a chance to work on their English language skills and understanding of American culture.

Due to incomplete information provided by Towson State University, an article in Tuesday's editions incorrectly listed the number of international students at the school. Including its undergraduate and graduate divisions and English Language Center, the university has 419 international students this semester, compared with 298 in fall 1993.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 9/06/96

They came to Columbia from disparate parts of the globe, eager to learn the intricacies of a language that sometimes doesn't mean what it sounds like it means. Take, for instance: "What's eating you?" "It doesn't mean someone is actually eating your body," Howard Community College instructor Kelly A. Kennedy told her class. "Unless you have the flesh-eating disease." At HCC's new English Language Institute, international students get two semesters of reading, writing, pronunciation and those quirky idioms - without the math, science and other subjects that usually come with full-time study in college.

While I applaud University of Maryland President Wallace Loh on his efforts to "rise to excellence," ("Wallace Loh inaugurated as UM president," April 29), I do believe that his priorities are misplaced. UM is a state university and its first priority should be to our in-state students. While I realize international students bring additional funds and prestige, our priority must be to our Maryland students for the benefit of the state's economy and growth. International students with student visas tend to return to their home countries.

Lola Tillyabaera shared artifacts from her native Uzbekistan with classmates at Harford Community College at a table set up in the Global Cafe. As students gathered at the table, she donned an ornate gold hat. "This hat is called a duppa," said Tillyabaera, 21. "This is the hat that women wear during their wedding." The hat was one of many things American-born students learned from about 100 international students at the school, who participated last week in International Education Week activities.

I am appalled at the trivialization that Dan Rodricks has placed on the issue of the "Dream Act" being about education of international students ("Seeing Dream Act students as 'our own," May 25). The issue he fails to address is the proper spending of our state taxes on legal Maryland residents and the drive to stop the continual misuse of funds by our state legislature and our state executive branch. I am a Maryland resident, but I cannot always say I am a proud Maryland resident because of the continual missteps of our elected officials.

Dan Rodricks ' recent column ("Seeing Dream Act Kids as 'our own,'" May 26) completely misses the point by comparing the children of people here illegally with international students. This is a case of comparing apples to oranges and is surprising coming from a journalist of Mr. Rodricks' experience. Universities these days belong to the corporate sector. They are run like for-profit businesses because that is the only way they can stay competitive and survive financially.

You have to wonder if any of my fellow Marylanders who want to repeal the Dream Act have been to a college campus recently — if not to take classes or hear a lecture, then at least to look around and see who's there. Campuses have plenty of "international students" these days, and more are coming. I'm talkin' nonresident aliens: young people who were born in other countries, raised in other countries and, unless their parents sent them to the United States for prep school, educated in other countries.

While I applaud University of Maryland President Wallace Loh on his efforts to "rise to excellence," ("Wallace Loh inaugurated as UM president," April 29), I do believe that his priorities are misplaced. UM is a state university and its first priority should be to our in-state students. While I realize international students bring additional funds and prestige, our priority must be to our Maryland students for the benefit of the state's economy and growth. International students with student visas tend to return to their home countries.

During the 11 years she has lived in Howard County, former Centennial Lane Elementary School Principal Florence Hu has seen the school district become a magnet for overseas families looking to move to the U.S. — so much so, that she has received email inquiries about the system from parents who live as far away as South Korea. But even parents who come armed with specific information about schools discover stark differences between the American approach to education and that of their own country, she says.

Lola Tillyabaera shared artifacts from her native Uzbekistan with classmates at Harford Community College at a table set up in the Global Cafe. As students gathered at the table, she donned an ornate gold hat. "This hat is called a duppa," said Tillyabaera, 21. "This is the hat that women wear during their wedding." The hat was one of many things American-born students learned from about 100 international students at the school, who participated last week in International Education Week activities.

Harford Community College will celebrate International Education Week tomorrow through Friday to showcase the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. The public is invited to participate in the college's events, which include: Tomorrow: The Multicultural Student Association will give "tours" of a Flags of the World display from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Student Center, Globe Cafe. HCC President James LaCalle will lead a re-dedication ceremony for the international flags flown across the HCC campus at 1 p.m. in the front entrance of the Student Center.

American colleges and universities, long the world leaders in attracting international students, are seeing the decline of their dominance, government analysts and education officials reported at a conference in Washington.Moving vigorously into the competition for international students are Australia, Canada, Latin America, New Zealand and members of the European Union, according to the Institute of International Education."I won't say we've lost our competitive edge, but we can no longer take things for granted," said Joseph Duffey, director of the U.S. Information Agency, which, with the Educational Testing Service, sponsored the conference at the State Department on Thursday.

When Chen Yafen of Shanghai, China, looked around the world for a master of business administration course, she ended up at the University of Baltimore. Known for generations in its hometown as a commuter school for local students, UB has delved into the growing market for international students seeking degrees from U.S. institutions. UB isn't alone. Figures show a steady growth in foreign students at the state's colleges and universities, from 4,849 in 1989 to 8,241 last year. For the third consecutive year, UB has recruited about 20 Chinese students for its intensive one-year MBA program.

Giancarlo Alpuche looked every bit like the other 1,200 Naval Academy freshmen who reunited with family yesterday after six weeks of indoctrination that cut him off from the world. His shoes were shined, his cap squarely fitted and his shirt tucked in just so. He even displayed a respectable command of midshipman lingo, using a dizzying array of acronyms when he greeted peers. But there was one thing he didn't share with his American peers: their allegiance to the U.S. Constitution. A native of Belize, Alpuche is one of 48 international students who attend the academy full time as part of a military exchange program that dates to the Civil War. The practice has been stepped up in recent years at U.S. service academies in an effort to give officer trainees a broader cultural understanding.

The nationwide manhunt for a group of Egyptian undergraduates who disappeared this week after entering the United States on student visas has higher education officials concerned that a long-awaited increase in foreign student enrollment might reverse again, as it did in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Authorities said yesterday that they arrested one of the 11 Egyptians in Minneapolis, and in New Jersey two others turned themselves in. The FBI and immigration officials are continuing to search for the other eight men. All 11 failed to show up for a one-month academic program at Montana State University.