Office helps foreigners with culture shock
By DANE CLAUSSEN
Of ttie Emerald
Editor’s note The stories on this
page are the first in a series
about foreign students
Despite rumors to the con
trary, the Office of International
Services will continue to
provide advice and help for the
University's approximately
1,000 foreign students
Recent budget cuts have af
fected exchange programs with
universities in West Germany,
France, Japan, and Mexico, but
have not affected the office's
ability to serve students already
here, says office director Tom
Mills
The office will continue to
Help foreign students fill out
their U S. Immigration Service
papers, or deal with financial,
academic and personal prob
lems, Mills says
■'Someone's got to sign the
papers and help with housing
when they arrive on campus,"
he says
In fact, the immigration ser
vice requires that the University
provide "adequate advising and
services," he adds
Besides providing paperwork
and counseling services, the
office also sponsors cultural
exchange programs, speaking
engagements for foreign
students and annual bus tours
of Oregon It also publishes
quarterly newsletters and finds
host families for foreign
students
Mills notes that not every for
eign student takes advantage of
the office's services Some
“Most other cultures are more
private about personal prob
lems." Problems are “kept in the
family. ”
The office keeps in contact
with other organizations that
sponsor foreign studies pro
grams, assist foreign students
or help American students who
plan to study abroad, Mills says
Budget drop to limit
worldwide exchange
By AWN PORTAL
Wh«n University Pres Paul Olum an
nounced a $146,000 cut in the international
Studies program, some foreign students and
faculty thought he had eliminated the office
altogether.
People keep coming up to me and saying
Hey, sorry you lost your job.’ " says Paul
Primak, foreign studies advisor
Actually, both Primak and office director
Tom MHis will keep their jobs, and the office will
continue to counsel and coordinate student
and faculty foreign exchanges, Mills says
The funds Olum proposed to suspend for
one year pay for the international education
program, a study abroad program coordinated
by Oregon State University
The program sends students to France.
Germany, Mexico and Japan for a year of
study The $146,000 cut is the University's
share of the co-operative program's budget for
next year Western Oregon State College also
pays a small amount tor the program.
John Van de Water, director of the interna
tional education program at Oregon State
University, says the cut means the program
can no longer operate the way it has in the
past The University's funds are at least half of
the entire program’s budget, he says
The two schools usually send about the
same number of students abroad Currently 60
University students and 55 OSU students at
tend universities in the four countries
OSU's part of the budget was cut a "fair
share" by reductions announced Thursday by
OSU Pres Robert MacVicar, but nothing like
the amount cut at the University, Van de Water
says
”1 don't know, frankly, what it will do,” he
says
But Van de Water does rule out the pos
sibility of OSU providing more funds so
University students still could enroll in the
program.
Mills says he realizes the predicament
caused by the withdrawal of University money,
which he points out has not yet happened and
must be approved by the State Board of Higher
Education and Chancellor Roy Lieuallen.
"Practically speaking, OSU cannot continue
to run the same type of program without our
assistance," Mills says
However, the University participates in
other, less-expensive study abroad programs
and may, somehow, continue to send a small
number of students overseas, he says
Part of the $146,000 payed for resident
directors, housing coordinators and student
entitlements in each of the countries. The
elimination of those aspects may make the
program unavailable or unattractive to some
students. Mills says
In addition, the University will no longer be
able to waive out-of-state tuition for foreign
exchange students
"Maybe a few will come, but not very many
without that tuition assistance," he says.
Primak says he is concerned the one-year
suspension of the program may damage
delicate relations with the foreign universities.
"We don't know, but we suspect it’s going to
take some years to recover."
"I think (administrators) recognize it’s not
something you switch on and off like a light
switch "
students don’t like to discuss
problems with an outside party,
while most others simply don't
have problems to discuss, he
says
“I think overall foreign
students do very well," Mills
says "Very few are up for
academic disqualification.”
Recently, only 18 foreign
students showed up for an
orientation session dealing with
lr
culture shock. But Mills wasn't
surprised
"Most other cultures are more
private about personal prob
lems,'' he says, adding that
problems are "kept in the fami
ly."
Americans are much more
willing to talk to an adviser,
counselor, or minister, Mills
says
A phrase such as "culture
shock" could make foreign
students feel like there’s
something wrong with them, he
adds
Mills, who has been with the
office for 10 years and in his
present position for the past
five, says his job is "enjoyable
and interesting."
It is inspiring to work with
siuaems wno are rrom
“developing countries, often
have little support, take jobs,
and carry full loads in a second
language,” he says
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