Indiana plan designed to block international students dies in committee

INDIANAPOLIS - International student recruitment at Indianapolis University-Purdue University at Indianapois could have suffered a setback this year. \nBut a measure that would limit the enrollment of non-citizens at state universities died in committee after a critical deadline passed last week. \nThe author of House Bill 1286, Rep. Dennis K. Kruse, sought to keep higher education institutions from enrolling students from countries the U.S. Secretary of State has designated as sponsors of international terrorism. \nBut the bill never got its day in the Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee nor did it ever see a second reading in the House. Had the bill kept moving, it would have needed to be read again on the floor by Jan. 31. \nIt's difficult to say why the committee did not take action on the bill, but advocates for international students were happy to see it fail. They question why Kruse, a Republican from Auburn, wrote the proposal to begin with. \nColleges and universities welcome foreign students because they pay full tuition and add to campus diversity. \n"I am curious to know the basis for which he proposed this bill," said Sara Allaei, director of the international affairs office at IUPUI. She believes education is the nation's building block, and not allowing access to foreign students seems drastic. \nKruse did not return repeated phone calls and e-mails from The Sagamore last week, seeking explanation for his motives. Critics suspect that, in light of last fall's terrorist attacks, the representative wanted to use the bill as a stopgap on terrorism. \nOnce a country is placed on the U.S. Secretary of State's list of nations that sponsor terrorism, it is very hard to get off. The register was started in 1979, and Iraq is the only country that has ever been formally removed. \nAfter its dismissal in 1982, Iraq was placed back on the list in 1990 after it invaded Kuwait. \nThe countries currently on the list are Syria, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Sudan. \nAllaei and other international affairs staffers say the measure actually puts up a wall to minimizing terror. \nNearly 800 students from foreign countries reside and study at IUPUI. Roughly 15 of those, just 2 percent, are from the seven countries included on the federal watch list. Of the 15, the majority is from Iran. \nBut Allaei was quick to note that the school has not had any problems with these students. "We have had a very good relationship with the Iranian-American students," she said. \nThe bill's fiscal impact statement showed that there were approximately 43 students statewide who would have been impacted by the bill, and that the effect on universities would have been minor. \nBut could the impact have been greater than lawmakers first thought? \nHad the bill become law, international students would have had to leave the state rather quickly. The proposal allowed for them to finish the current semester but stated that they would have had to be out by July 1. \nHad the student's enrollment period exceeded the end of spring semester, an exception would have been made to allow those students to continue their education until Jan. 1, 2003. \nWhile state governments look to create a more secure environment, a search of other legislative bodies last week showed that similar measures has not been proposed elsewhere. \nAllaei and others like Patricia Biddinger, IUPUI's top international recruiter, say that limiting the entry of foreign students would not be the best way to accomplish better national security. \n"Terrorism does not go by citizenship," Allaei said.