Students face travel dilemma

Senior Yoga Prakasa hasn't been home since the summer before Sept. 11. For Prakasa, home is Jakarta, Indonesia, a 20-hour flight through a series of immigration checkpoints and tedious interviews.\nAfter listening to his mother's recent horror stories about Indonesian students denied re-entry into the U.S., Prakasa has decided to stay in Bloomington again this summer. \nHis family is concerned -- they haven't seen him in two years. But they'll have to wait. With one more year before he graduates, Prakasa said he's not willing to take the risk of leaving the country. \n"(My parents) are torn between encouraging me to stay and encouraging me to come home," Prakasa said. "I don't have anything to hide, but there's always a risk."\nMany other international students are also voicing concerns about the increasing border security and its effects on international travel. But almost two years after Sept. 11, home-sickness has begun to overrule the concern of being denied re-entry into the U.S. \nJunior Dina Abdel Rehim canceled her plans to go back to the United Arab Emirates during spring break out of fear that war with Iraq would begin. \n"I'm actually glad I didn't go back because that's the time the war broke out," she said. \nDuring the first Gulf War, air travel out of the United Arab Emirates stopped, and Abdel Rehim said she feared the same would happen again.\n"It didn't happen this time, but you never want to take the risk," she said. "I didn't want to get stuck there because I had exams right after break." \nBut she's not canceling her plans for this summer. After missing out on her chance to go home earlier this semester, Abdel Raheem is looking forward to visiting Dubai and Egypt. \nBesides random questioning, she said re-entering the U.S. usually doesn't pose too much of a hassle. \nGonzalo Isidro-Bruno, the Leo R. Dowling International Center director, said most students don't seem concerned with the fear of re-entering the country.\nIf students have the proper paperwork and a valid visa, Isidro said they should not have any problems.\nAamir Mian, president of the Pakistani Student Association, only has to finish one more semester before he graduates. \nMian said many juniors and seniors are concerned because if they go home and can't come back to the U.S., they will have wasted a lot of money on their education.\nMian said if he could, he would save the hassle and finish school this summer, but he still needs to complete 12 more credit hours. \nImmediately after Sept. 11, the Office of International Services sent out memos to international students encouraging them to refrain from nonessential travel.\nRather than succumbing to the numerous restraints, many international students are willing to take the risks and visit their families.\n"We're used to (the restrictions) now," Mian said. "It's been almost two years since Sept. 11"