Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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Over a dinner discussion, Marwan Al-Kadi, senior in industrial engineering. tall s with fellow Saudi Club member Abdulaziz Shagrod, junior in electrical engineering, Oct. 1, The dinner was in the evening because during Ramadan, Muslims did not eat during the daylight. Lisle Alderton pressured by his father. I didn ' t want to come here, he said. My dad knew someone here, tliey have a good college tor engineering, and it ' s a small city. (Since it ' s a small city) I have to study. I have to read. As a student, it ' s good to be here, but otherwise, there ' s not much to do. Alkotami adjusted to the U.S. after having friends from home expose him to life around campus. Although he was warmly received by most students across campus, he was still faced with some prejudices. Alkotami did not blame the prejudice on racism; he said that people did not understand his culture or religion, then acted on the stereotypes they created. They don ' t know about our cultinv or who we are, he said. They don ' t like the way I speak, do n ' t like that I ' m a Muslim. Many people formed stereotypes based on the bad actions of a few, then view all people from that culture the same, Asiri said. The Middle East had a problem with terrorists, he said, and Americans stereotype Muslims as terrorists. You shouldn ' t judge a country based on the actions of 10 people, Asiri said. (Terrorists) cause problems for us too. We don ' t like them either. Fayez Husseim, adviser and professor ot interior architecture and product design, said the Saudi club was important because it brought the Saudi culture to an American university and helped bring a sense of trieiidship and understanding to the two cultures. Husseini, who moved to the U.S. from Syria in 1972 and started teaching at the university in 1980, said some of his responsibilities were to support the stucients and help them deal with issues they taced on campus. He also helped the club bring notable Saudi influences, such as Prince Turki Al-Faisal and artist I luda Totoii)i, to campus. I tec! like 1 h.ue llie rcspdiisibility of bringing iiiidcrstandmi; to .i nnsuiidcrstood culture. he said. Saudi Students 17

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In the back of the (Union Pacific Depot). Mansour Alkhalaf. freshman in computer science, listens at the Saudi Student Club meeting Oct- 1 (Americans) behave better around strangers than in Saudi Arabia (They) smile and talk to strangers like they know them. At home they don ' t do that. Mansour Asiri. senior in mechanical engineering, said There ' s a big difference for sure. But It ' s always fun to try something different. The Saudi Club was founded December 2005 and gam members every year Dif Dim For many students, the ehoice to come to Manhattan mvolved visitmg campus, attending senior days, communicating with admissions representatives and receiving scholarship notifications. However, this was not the case for all. For two students from Saudi . ' rabu, snow, parental pressure and the size of the town were the deciding factors. Mansour Asiri, senior in mechanical engineering, said one of the pushes to come here was the weather — more specifically, the snow — since Saudi Arabia had weather comparable to Texas. The weather in Kansas is very different (than in Saudi Arabia), Asiri said. At first, I was really e.xcited. but it ' s really cold. I have to wake up early just to clean ice off my car. Besides the snow, Asiri came to Manhattan after receiving a scholarship from SABIC hinovative Plastics, a Saudi Arabian company, for five years of schooling: one vear to learn English, which he spent at Texas A M University, and four years to obtain a bachelor ' s degree. The scholarship paid for all school expenses and gave Asiri a monthly allowance. After graduation, he would be required to work at least five years for the company. It ' s awesome to get a scholarship from them, Asiri said. Out of 10,000 people who applied, only 100 got the scholarship. Despite heavy amounts of work, Asin found time to get involved with one of his passions: soccer. He said he was afraid he would not get to play soccer in the U.S. because of its lack of popularity, but found a budding interest on campus and became involved m the Saudi intramural soccer team. Football is fun, but I don ' t understand why America doesn ' t like soccer, he said. It ' s the most popular sport in the world. In football, you ' re either tat or fast. There ' s no skill. Hazem Alkotami, sophomore in industrial engineering, came to the universitv after beintr 16 Smdent Life

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urlON dance inspires laughter, change By Caitlin Burns Students gathered m the K-$tate Student Union April 2 to hsten tojudson Laipply ' s Inspirational Comedy. Many students had seen Laipply ' s The Evolution of IDance video on YouTube.coni, whieh was a part of his program. The dance, representative of changing music, was a metaphor for lite, he said. Everything m your life is there because of the choices you make, Laipply said. You ' re changing who you are every moment of the day. Life is change. Throughout the performance, he discussed other topics including drinking, relationships with fimily and h-iends. coping with change, the addiction to Faccbo(.)k. coin and what he thinks are the t o truths m life. There are two truths in this world, Laipply said. There are things you can control, and there are things you can ' t. He made jokes about the importance of laughter. He said that people like to laugh, and it does not matter what kind of laugh they have. The one thing everyone had in common was that the - ended their At Judson Larppl ' s inspirational comedy show students play a game called Fastest Finger Count Caitlin Burns. Union Program Council co-arts chair and sophomore in fine arts, said they wanted him to perform because he was so popular Our goal was to make it free so more people could come. she said- laugh With a sigh and a smile. Laipply said the average child laughs between 20(1-30(1 times a day, while adult laugh closer to 10 times. The dance was my fa -orite part, Mark Ca ' vood, freshman in history, said. It was absolutely hilarious. Laipply performed an extended version of his dance, which included C:i-ank that (Soulja Boy) by Soulja Boy Tell Em and music from Shakira. It was cool that he added 30 sect)iids to the dance, ' said Hannah McSpadden, Union Program Council co-arts chair and sophomore in agribusiness. I don ' t think he ' s done that at other schools. The program was sponsored by Lateiie Health Center, Student Health Advisory Committee, Sexual Health Awareness Peer Education, Phi Delta Theta, UPC and Leadership Studies and Programs. Chie ot our main goals was to make it tree so more people could come, McSpadden said. There was a good turnout tonight. There were people even standing against the walls. 18 Student Life