UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 17, Page 5
January 23, 1992
Wide variety of services at International Center

     A robbery occurs in your home. Luckily, the robbery is taped
by an in-home security device, but the thieves are speaking in a
language you don't understand. How can you translate what they are
saying in order to learn their identities?
     In this instance, the answer to your problem is the
International Center.
     According to Susan Lee, acting director of the International
Center, this situation actually occurred in a Newark resident's
home. The home owner brought the tape to the International Center
and through the interpretation of an international student the
police were able to discover the robbers' identities.
     When not helping fight local crime, the International Center's
main focus is to provide programs and services for the University
and coordinate a number of international activities for foreign
students. The center also seeks to stimulate international
awareness on campus and in the community.
     "Our purpose," said Lee, "is to help foreign students from the
day they arrive, while they get their degrees, and after
graduation."
     The center is charged with overseeing more than 1,400
international students and scholars. A large number of these
students are from China and India.
     During the fall semester, 170 new foreign students came to the
University. Lee said this was the largest number of new foreign
students to enter the campus during any semester since the program
began.
     Lee advises foreign students on housing and registration
problems, and helps students obtain visas and Social Security
numbers, which are needed for the duration of their visit in the
states. If a student or scholar has children, the center will help
place the children in a public school.
     The center spends most of its time advising students with
lease problems and consulting with them on domestic or financial
aid issues. "No two days are alike in this office," Lee said.
     There are representatives from more than 100 countries at the
University, she said, and these students are a valuable asset to
the campus as well as to the community.
     In one case, she said, an international student was used as an
interpreter in a court case.
     Foreign students are also valuable to the community hospitals.
Lee said, "Sometimes persons with serious head injuries will speak
in their former language after they have been hurt." Foreign
students have been used as interpreters for the doctors of these
patients, she explained.
     The center provides services for the preparation and
processing of immigration documents for foreign faculty and helps
coordinate the Fulbright program for domestic faculty.
     For University students and faculty, the center offers, in
appropriate cases, guidance in obtaining financial support for
study, research, teaching and travel abroad. International students
identity cards for overseas discounts and youth hostel cards for
inexpensive housing abroad can be bought from the center as well.
     For most foreign students, their visas will expire 18 months
after graduation. However, students who find jobs are often given
a new visa from the company where they are hired. Lee said the
foreign student alumni often will come back to help the center,
especially with orientation programs.
     Special events are held by the center each semester. This
spring, it will hold its annual International Night, a talent show
made up of students from different countries.
     Lee also is the adviser of the Cosmopolitan Club, made up of
international students.
     The club meets 5:30 p.m., each Friday, at the International
Center, at 52 West Delaware Avenue. For information about the
center and its programs, call Lee at 831-2115.
                                        - Lisa Greiner