Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 12, 1991 TAG: 9102120387
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JUSTINE ELIAS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Lack of communication, fueled by misunderstanding and prejudice, only compounds the problem.
"We do not precisely fit into the mold of black students, in that the African experience is not the African-American experience," Alem Banteyehu, the ASA's social secretary, said in a statement on behalf of the organization's 89 members.
University President James McComas agreed that foreign students at Tech are sometimes subject to a different standard than Americans.
"International students are supposed to be more mature, yet they face barriers of language, culture, and educational systems," McComas said.
ASA members complained of inadequate orientation programs and not enough funding from scholarship agencies.
"Adjustment problems are the main thing," said ASA president Moumar Gueye.
A permanent campus office for the ASA would help, Gueye told McComas. The network of African students can provide support for newcomers only after new students can find them.
The group - which can hold office hours in another international student organization's office - does not even have a telephone listing in the university directory.
The ASA's lack of a home base caused a serious problem for a graduate student from Jamaica who, upon arriving in Blacksburg, thought he might have to spend the night in a church. He happened to run into another foreign student who told him who to contact for temporary housing.
Locating housing, and coming up with money for an apartment, plus utility deposits, are difficult for students new to American life, said Gueye.
"I really can't accept all the ways we do business, especially if they can be corrected," McComas. "They are not always matters of cost. They are matters of being courteous and caring.
"Ninety-nine countries are represented on campus. When you try to meet the needs of students from that many countries, it's a challenge."
Students from developing countries can receive as much as $625 per month from the U.S. Agency for International Development. But the agency calculates its scholarships for Tech students based on the cost of a shared apartment in a rural area, and some students say Blacksburg is more expensive than most rural university towns.
Chris Johnson, a graduate student from Sierra Leone in West Africa, had never signed a standard lease before moving to Blacksburg. Johnson suggested the university's orientation materials include an explanation of tenants' legal obligations.
ASA members said academic advisers sometimes have low expectations of African students. They asked university officials to put less stock in standardized test results while trying to understand the differences between U.S. and African education systems.
Tech has supplied U.S. information offices abroad with an orientation video for prospective students, and all graduate students now get health services during school breaks.
by CNB