Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

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Toeing JK Little Different by Olive Sullivan Most foreign students at PSU come from Iran, The second largest group is from Taiwan, the Republic of China. Ail told, there are students from 22 foreign countries attending school at PSU, in- cluding Venezuela, Denmark, Ireland, and the West Indies, for a total of 236 foreign students including those in the American Language Program. They come to Pittsburg for a wide variety of reasons, said Dr. James AuBuchon, Associate Director of Student Affairs. He said he asks students why they chose Pitt State, and there are a lot of answers. He told of one Taiwanese girl who chose MANY NQN-TRADITIQNAL foreign students can be found working on campus in such areas as food service at Gibson Dining Hall.(photo by Fred McGary) the school because she thought the cover of the Pitt State catalog, showing the campus In the fall, was pretty, and that she would like to live here. She applied, and we had the program she was in- terested in, so she is now a student here.

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MOOG SYNTHESIZERS PLAY an Important rota In today's modern music and Richard Cook, associate professor of music, experiments with new sounds on PSU's moog synthesizer.(photo by Alan Ford) Cook handles the Moog from skill born of practice, and maybe a little love. He knows which lead to plug into which socket to produce a desired effect. “The machine cost $4,700 when we bought it 10 years ago, Cook said. “Everyone was shocked by the price. At the time, it was one of only 100 synthesizers in the world and was quite a boon to the music department. The synthesizer is connected to a custom-made four channel reel-to-reel tape recorder, which allows students to record their performances. It also allows the tracks of live instruments, including voice, to be mixed with the synthesizer. 27

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MANY FORMS OF SELF-DEFENSE are being taught informerly around campus. Bruce Johanaiisa is learning Tae Kwon Do. a form of Karate, from Soran Sankataval. (photo by Fred McGary) Reasons range from answers like that to reccommendations from a friend. Dr. AuBuchon also said that unique programs attract people. PSU’s printing program is especially attractive, since not every college has a four year degree program in Printing Management. The whole School of Technology and Applied Science is a big draw to students from developing Third World countries, AuBuchon said. Most students in such programs plan to return to their home countries and work, which, according to AuBuchon, is the idea behind in- ternational education in the first place. One reason we should accept foreign students is to share the field of knowledge we have developed with the idea that they'll go home to benefit their own country. That’s what international education is all about,” he said. Some students like it so well, though, that they want to stay. “When that happens, we’re not really achieving our goal in international education, AuBuchon stated. Wanting to stay can present problems for a student. Once admitted to study, it 1$ difficult to change one's Visa status, but AuBuchon said there are a couple of ways to do it. One is marriage to a U.S. citizen. This insures lawful permanent residence for the foreign students. If a student posseses skills in short supply in the U.S. they can also gain lawful permanent residence. This leads to another problem faced by foreign students—money.- Most American students have some sort of job, on or off campus, to help them get through school or earn a little cash on the side. Foreign students cannot hold jobs here, except in unusual circumstanr It is a pre-stated condition in an F-1 Student Visa from a U.S. consul )road that the potential student r ost be financially self-sufficient ♦ attend school full time without having to resort to work. The primary purpose in coming to the U.S. is assumed to je the desire to engage in a full course of study, said C . AuBuchon, and this s one way of in- suring that a student will have enough time for his or her studies. But a lot of things can happen in the four to six years a student will be studying in the U.S, Someone who has a family remaining in the home country and who could support them here can run into problems. If they’re farmers, crops could fail, or an Illness can strike. These kinds of things present situations where a student is permitted to supplement v their income, based on the fact that that income has drastically and suddenly changed, Dr. AuBuchon said. He added that the student has to establish that fact and submit an ap- plication to him, which he forwards to the Immigration and Naturalization Service District Office in Kansas City for approval. This is sent back to the student, who is then authorized to get work in the community. But, AuBuchon emphasized, this is based only on demonstrated economic necessity. There are other problems facing a student wishing to study in this country, too. Aside from the language barrier to most students, a common problem is adjusting to a new culture, a different kind of university structure, and classroom structure. Most students at 29