Foreign students under surveillance

During a speech to the Heritage Foundation last week, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called for stricter surveillance of foreign students attending American universities. Romney highlighted the need for a coalition between state and federal authorities to gather more intelligence by subjecting foreign students who come from countries affiliated with terrorism to stricter surveillance and by wiretapping mosques. \nA federal database tracking international students' majors, addresses, visas and dates of entrance into and departure from America already exists. While Romney acknowledged that federal authorities alone have the authority to survey students at the present, his speech failed to describe what type of additional information the database should include. In fact, his speech failed to refer to the database at all. His silence concerning the specific terms of his proposal summarized in his speech to the Heritage Foundation suggests he hasn't taken the time to inform himself about the issue before his stirring call to action. \nThe information, gathered by current surveillance methods, provides sufficient information for federal authorities. Further intrusion is not only unnecessary, it would only serve to further estrange international students from their American hosts.\nSince Sept. 11, international students have found it increasingly difficult to obtain a student visa for study in America. Because of tighter restrictions on student visas and a growing culture of distrust between international students and federal authorities, some students are beginning to choose British or Australian universities (who welcome them with open arms) instead of American ones. Additions to existing surveillance measures would only augment this culture of distrust and alienation. \nBritain and Australia are enthusiastic about growing international student populations for the same reasons America should be fighting to keep its own international students. International students attend IU prepared to pay the full amount of out-of-state tuition, pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into the University every year. Without the much-needed funds international students contribute through tuition payments, American students might miss out on services we now enjoy; for example, the expensive technological resources that won us our recent "Red Hot" status in Newsweek.\nIn addition to the economic benefits, the international quality of IU's student body is a matter of academic pride and distinction. By encouraging dialogue among the world's best minds, American schools continue to witness breakthroughs and continue their traditions of excellence. If stringent requirements and suspicious attitudes keep enough eminent scholars away from U.S. universities, America will slip from its position at the forefront of research and academic excellence. America's reputation as the best place to pursue a higher education depends on the people who subscribe to that notion, including the thousands of international students who petition to enter American universities every year. \nRomney said in his speech that he believes issues of domestic security have no place for political correctness. But we believe we must respect the international communities that contribute to the economy, cultural identity and academic reputation of American universities.