Visas evaluated

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 have caused many outside forces to call for increased scrutiny of foreign students in the United States on student visas. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has played a pivotal part in the monitoring of international students, including efforts that have extended to the IU campus this year.\nKenneth Rogers, associate dean and director of international students, has played an active role in the development of such databases. A not-yet-published system to be implemented across the U.S. will electronically report the arrival, registration and courses of international students, as well as any changes, to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Rogers said.\n"SEVIS (Student Exchange Visitor Information System), the new procedure, will enable the INS to effectively monitor the current students in the U.S.," he said.\nGenerally, the tracing of student visas is not a new procedure. The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a catalyst for congress to pass a law calling for a database to monitor international students with student visas. \nNor is the organized monitoring of foreign students a shock to those familiar with the educational systems in the U.S. But the emphasis placed on these students is coming under fire both locally and nationally. \nLess than two percent of foreign residents of the U.S. is composed of students, said Gonzalo Isidro Bruno, coordinator of the Leo R. Dowling International Center.\n"The biggest surprise is that the emphasis on foreign students is out of proportion," he said. \nBut, Bruno said these students are the easiest to track.\nOf the 3,200 current international students at IU, most do not experience day-to-day scrutiny. \n"It is important to know about international students," said freshman Saumil Visharia, who hails from India. "But you don't have to go right to the extent of cross-examining these students." \nThe backlash toward international communities in universities is a potential by-product of closely monitoring student visa recipients, Bruno said. \n"American students will perceive international students as potential criminals instead of what they are -- individuals pursuing an education," Bruno said. \nWhile some Sept. 11 terrorists once held student visas, Rogers and Bruno agreed that the great majority of all terrorists entered the United States as tourists. \nThe Wall Street Journal reported Monday that private companies are vying for contracts with the INS to help track international students. The proposed measures include tracking class attendance and reporting any consecutive absences.\n"No evidence exists that students are a threat," Rogers said. "These kind of systems are deceiving the American people into thinking we will solve the problem of terrorism by tracking international students"