The Fourth Write Magazine (San Antonio, Tex.) Fall 1985 Page: 11 of 12

                                
Academic freedom drew two here
H
Ay
I
of
Yukio Shirahama
Visa hassles lead to bitterness for some
met, the
Story by Karen Spears
FALL 1985/THE FOURTH WRITE MAGAZINE/11
IMMIGRATION
to move
capitalist
student.”
foreign students are
are not admitted to
attended
of
the
of
“The ambassador said 'sorry, you have to
contact the college yourself. You can’t get
someone else to get the information...’ ”
Sophomore Jihad Kanafani
1 /J
L_
Surendra Shrivastava
A
major from Raselian, Syria, said.
Despite the hassles they have endured to
get here, 198 foreign students are enrolled
here this semester on full-time, F-l visas.
Students taking at least 12 semester hours
are eligible for F-l visas.
About 80 students here are on other types
of visas, such as exchange visitor, temporary
work, tourist or political asylum.
A visa, issued by a country other than
one’s own, grants a person permission to
enter and leave. The visa is then stamped
onto a page in the passport.
After the visa requirements are
1-20 form proves eligibility for enrollment.
Then the Immigration and Naturalization
Service issues 1-20 identification forms,
which the student must keep with him at
all times.
For processing reasons, prospective
students are required to file their paper work
at least six months before the semester they
wish to attend.
Mandatory paper work includes a foreign
student application as well as official high
Shrivastava said, ‘‘Americans could do or
say anything they wanted. In 1966 when I
arrived, it was kind of scary.
‘‘People were pushing for changes, and
they wanted the changes rapidly.”
Today, Japan is tom between the elderly
and the young, Shirahama said.
‘‘Japan lives with two traditions—
feudalism and fast capitalism.
‘‘The younger people want
toward a westernization and a
economy.
To attend college in the United States,
foreign students must complete dozens of
forms and official documents, obtain health
cards, undergo interviews and get clearances.
The hassles often lead to bitterness and
resentment. A student’s life can be altered
at the apparent whim of an official.
Jihad Kanafani, sophomore dentistry ma-
jor from Beirut, Lebanon, said his best friend
ran into problems with the U.S. Embassy in
Lebanon.
‘‘My best friend was supposed to come
here four months after I did. So, I sent him
all the registration information from St.
Philip’s College.
‘‘The ambassador said ‘sorry, you have to
contact the college yourself. You can’t get
someone else to get the information for
you.’
Some students believe U.S. embassies lack
compassion or reject applicants for ex-
traneous reasons.
‘‘Some'students are trying to get away
from war. The people at the embassies are
not even trying to help,” Kanafani said.
Another student here said one of his
friends was not given a visa because of a
technicality.
‘‘My friend had his papers ready the same
time as mine, but they refused to give him
a visa. His major was theater, so the coun-
sulate refused to let him come here,” Ahad
Elias Abdul, a sophomore computer science
here, said many more students ask about the
requirements than follow through with
enrollment.
‘‘We have over 1,000 inquiries a year
come through this office. They come
through the mail, over the phone and in
person.”
Surprisingly, no one has tried to falsify
documents in order to be accepted here,
Meza said.
‘‘We have had people try to enroll under
false names. This was because they had been
remiss on tuition, written hot checks or had
not qualified as a
Meza also said some
outspoken when they
college here.
‘‘They want a response then and there.
They’re unfamiliar with the way the system
works.”
The coordinator said a lot of students
think the processing time for documents is
excessive.
‘‘When I tell them it will be a minimum
of four weeks, they think it is too long. They
say two weeks will be better.”
Sometimes the paperwork is delayed
because of the inter-continental mail, Meza
said.
“It can take up to four weeks to get to the
country—if the paperwork isn’t lost.”D
universities in the United States because he
always wanted a degree from an American
university.
Shrivastava received a master’s degree in
math from Oklahoma State University.
For young Japanese in the early 1960s,
“America was great,” Shirahama said.
‘‘The Japanese dream to become
Americans. Through magazines, movies and
television, they created their own version
of west-ernization.”
“It’s (an American degree) looked upon as
BAAS
sia ■ ««Ji
school and college transcripts. An original
copy and a translated, certified copy must
be submitted.
The student must also have a health ex-
amination by a local physician as soon as the
student arrives in the United States.
Another crucial document is the student’s
financial statement or affidavit of support.
This form must be signed by the student, cer-
tified by a notary public in the states and
verified by a bank.
The office of foreign students here will
mail the 1-20 forms to the student about
eight weeks before enrollment.
Once these obligations are met, the stu-
dent must meet other requirements.
A student has to keep a passport which
will be valid for at least six months. He is
required to take a course load of 12 hours
each semester and maintain a grade-point
average of 2.0.
He also must have permission to attend
the school, and he cannot work off campus
without authorization from the INS office.
Daniel Meza, foreign student coordinator
For most Americans, education is free and
and convenient. It also is taken for granted.
In many countries, only the rich can af-
ford education. Predetermined paths allow
no room for academic freedom.
Freedom of choice in education entices
many foreign students to come to the United
States.
Yukio Shirahama, philosophy professor
here for 15 years, came to this country in
1961 with a dream—to further his education.
As a young man from Tokyo, he received
a bachelor’s degree
in English from LMOhi
Methodist Univer-  B
sity in Tokyo and    g|
came here for the  M
freedom America
offered.
He
Univeristy
California,
Univeristy
Oklahoma and the
University
Missouri.
Shirahama
received a master’s
degree        in
philosophy from
the University of
Oklahoma.
In 1966, a young man from Bombay, In-
dia, arrived in America with a scholarship
from Penn State University.
Surendra Shrivastava, math professor here
for almost 10 years, said he applied to 20
a
the Eastern part of
the world.
“A degree has its
advantages.”
Both the East In-
dian and Japanese
cultures revere
education.
Students follow a
path set for them by
the univerisity, and
they do not have an
opportunity to veer
off course and take
a class that has
nothing to do with
their set program.
Shrivastava said
India has a .
“teacher-oriented society.”
“In India, the teacher can penalize a stu-
dent if he does not want to study. Over
there, there are no midterms or exams given
during the year.
“There is only one exam given. It is given
at the end of the year. If a student fails the
exam, he must wait one year before taking
the class again.
“America has a student-oriented society.
Here, you cannot punish the student for not
studying. You can encourage them to study,
but nothing else.”
“American students are rather unstruc-
tured and lack discipline in their education.
“In Japan, the students are very struc-
tured. They are provided with set courses in
status symbol in ‘ the universities in
Japan. They cannot
take a drama
course, for instance,
when they are pur-
suing an engineer-
ing degree.”
Arriving in the
midst of a
tumultuous decade,
both professors said
they    believed
Americans had too
much freedom
then.
Shirahama said,
‘‘In the 1960s,
America had a
strong political in-
__fluence throughout
the world.
“When I arrived, I didn’t understand
America yet. This country was so different
from Japan because it was willing to accept
changes and move very rapidly.”
‘‘The younger
generation may win
over, but I think
the traditions will
never disappear.”
Shrivastava
became a citizen of
the United States
in 1972. He said he
returns home often.
“I’ve gotten so
used to saying and
doing anything I
want, I don’t want
to go back,” he said
with a smile.
Shirahama
recently began the
process to become a
citizen.
“It is a country of many opportunities, and
it has taken the best of all cultures and made
all cultures one.”n
Story by Dona Clancy
Photography by David Sams