International student groups
provide service, assistance
By Kelvin Wee
Of th# Emerald
International students make
up about nine percent of the
total student population in the
University. The Office of Inter
national Services expects that
about 1500 international
students representing various
nations will return to the
University this fall.
To help students adjust better
to the American culture, to Of
fice of International Services, in
coordination with the Friend
ship Family Foundation, offers
a "Friendship Family” pro
gram. "Friendship Families"
are similar to “Host Families"
with the exception that the par
ticipants do not live with the
families involved in this
project.
“The Friendship Family
Foundation has been a very suc
cessful program, and we have
about 550 people who are in
volved with us," said Margo
Ramsing, coordinator of the
program and student advisor
with the Office of International
Services, "The program in
volves concerned families in the
I,ane County area who want to
be friends to foreign students.
They are extremely beneficial to
students because one of the big
gest problems faced by many
foreign students is that of feel
ing all alone." she added
The Friendship Family Foun
dation will also host the Presi
dent's Reception that will be
held at Oerlinger Lounge on
Nov 1 HIH7. "This is where
students are officially welcom
ed by the president, as well as
community and county of
ficials," Ramsing said.
A similar program on a
smaller scale Is the Student's
Welcoming and Assistance Pro
gram (SWAP) sponsored by the
Singapore Student Association
(SSA)
"This is a new service we
provide to help Singaporean
students who are new to the
University," said Joyce Tee.
vice president of the SSA. "We
try to pair up volunteers and
students according to their
majors.”
The SSA will host a Fall
dance on Oct. 4. and a general
meeting cum potluck on Oct. 10
at 6 p m. in Oerlinger Lounge,
she said. "Although the SSA
serves mostly Singaporeans,
our services and events are open
to all students in the llnviersity.
We have a collection of
newspapers and magazines
from Singapore in our office
which is open to anyone for
reference use," she added. The
Singapore Student Association
is located in Room 202 of the
Erb Memorial Union.
The Foreign Student
Organization (FSO) is another
major organization that serves
foreign students. Located in
Room 200 of the EMU, the FSO
serves about one third of the en
tire foreign student population.
Kiyono Kobayashi, president
of the FSO. said that although
they served foreign students,
their services are not just
limited to non-Americans. "We
encourage cultural exchange."
she said. "Our goal is to help
both American students and
foreign students understand
more about each other's
cultures.”
The FSO holds weekly coffee
hours in the International Stu
dent Lounge every Friday at 4
p.m. "Everyone is encouraged
to attend this as it is a good
chance for people to meet others
from different nations and learn
more about those countries.”
kobayashi said.
In addition, the FSO also in
tends to host a monthly "tea
party,” which will feature a dif
ferent foreign culture each time.
"We would like to include a
variety of snacks and drinks
from the country which is in
focus for that month.”
kobayashi added. "We hope to
also incorporate slide shows
and presentations on the
cultures to help everyone learn
more about that country.”
“The FSO is a group which
serves all students,” said
Kobayashi. "We encourage
American students who are in
terested in foreign cultures to
participate in our activities and
events. We host several other
events like sports meets, art
shows, dances and picnics
throughout the year and anyone
who is interested in par
ticipating can (.all us at
6 8 6 - 4 3 8 7 for m o re
information.”
The r SO also serves as a host
organization for several smaller
foreign student groups. Such a
group is the Norwegen Students
in Eugene, a group that serves
the lit) Norvvegen students at
tending the University
Torbjorn Skarbo, president of
the Norwegen Students in
Eugene, said the group plans to
host several regular events
throughout the year, intruding
their general meetings and the
annual ski-jump "As with most
of the other groups, most of our
events are open to the public."
he said
The contact level amongst the
members of the group is per
sonal. Sk.irini added "We hand
out a list of people and their
phone numbers to ail our
members at the iwginning of the
year, and like most other
groups, we have a welcoming
party in honor of those new
Norvvegen students here.”
Foreign students also find
they may need other forms of
assistance that they may not lie
able to obtain from the various
student organizations on cam
pus. Recent changes in tax and
immigration laws in this coun
try do affect many foreign
students.
The Office of International
Services offers workshops and
one-on-one counseling on such
issues, said (Jinny Stark, a stu
dent advisor with the OIS.
"There's always an advisor
available for drop in. and
another available for ap
poinements all day at the of
fice," Stark said “Most of the
people in this office have some
international experience, and
we are here to serve the students
and the international
community.”
The Office of International
Services also hosts special pro
grams for spouses of interna
tional students and staff at the
University, handles immigra
tion problems and maintenance
of visa status for international
students and staff, assistance
with practical training upon
graduation, and advice on
scholarships, loans, housing
and academics.
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