University of North Alabama - Diorama Yearbook (Florence, AL)

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For a special group of students, changing languages, making new friends and adapting to a different lifestyle are all a part of Cj-Qsgi g q Rordcr, Our school system in India is so much different from schools in the U.S. that it was hard to adjust at first, stated Bhajan Muda- har. ' M had always heard about the greatness of this nation. It became a dream of mine to come and visit. Now that I am here, I know what they mean when they say ' The United States of America, ' remarked Mazen Ho- moud of Jordan. Bhajan and Mazen see life on campus through different perspectives than most stu- dents. They, like other foreigners, have had to adapt to a totally different lifestyle. According to Jan Faucett, secretary to the Director of Institutional Research, Grants, CONVERSING IN SPANISH are Arlcnc Fuentcs and Maricbelle Villalobos from Puerto Rico. The cousins have lived in the U.S. for two years. Room- ing together in Rice Hall provides them an opportu- nity to speak their native language. We start learning English in elementary school. Its a re- quirement for graduation. Mariebelle states. (Pho- tos by Tim Rowland) PLANNING to get her master ' s degree in business. Bhajan Mudahar from India studies in the SUB. Bhajan and her husband Mohinder. an economist with I.F.D.C.. and their daughter Bali, a first grader at Kilby. have lived in the U.S. for eight years. Girls at home customarily kiss you on the cheek. But here they only tap you on the back or hug you. —Eateban DavUa and Planning, there are six students on camp- us with an F-1 or F-2 Visa, meaning they must be reported to the government as aliens. These include one from Japan, one from Co- lombia, two from Nigeria and two from Jor- dan. There arc, however, others here on visi- tation visas or with the International Fertilizer Development Center, which brings people from around the world to this area. Bhajan Mudahar, an alumna with a bachelor ' s degree in fashion merchandising, is back in school for two more courses. She and her husband, Mohinder, an economist with I.F.D.C., and their daughter, Bali, a first grader at Kilby Training School, have lived in the United States for eight years. Even though he has an uncle working here with T.V.A., Mazen Homoud has had to deal with the changes more on his own. The 21-year-old junior majoring in politi- cal science and sociology has lived in Amer- ica for almost two years. His first year was spent at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indi- ana, before coming to Florence. Since his father is an ambassador, Ma- zen has also lived in Chile, India, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, the U.S.S.R., England and China. This time he is here alone. Sophomore Arlene Fuentes, sophomore Mariebelle Villalobos, and senior Esteban Da- vila from Puerto Rico are visiting students in the sense that they are not from the U.S. mainland. However, since Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States, Marie- belle states, We are American citizens and don ' t like to be classified as foreigners. Arlene remarked, I am surprised at how warm the students are here. I have to say hi one-hundred times a day. Also, I had never seen squirrels on university campuses before. Mariebelle, Arlene ' s cousin and room- mate in Rice Hall, had difficulty understand- ing the southern accent at first. Now, she said, I have a southern accent myself. When I go home, my parents laugh at it. Esteban has been here for three years, one year longer than Arlene and Mariebelle. The differences he noticed were of a different kind of subject matter — girls. Girls at home customarily kiss you on the cheek, he said with a grin, but here they only tap you on the back or hug you. With their differences in cultural back- grounds and physical characteristics, foreign students are a valuable part of campus life, adding to the blend of different lifestyles and giving us an awareness of the unique societies that surround us. — Vickie Lindsey Student Life 29

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- I TTSiKf- - . WINDING HER WAY down the unpaved main road of the Farm. Rebecca Tyson cycles totuard the Gate house located at the entrance to the commune. Automobile traffic oiT he t arm is kept to a mini- mum. (Photo by Pat Hood) WE LIVE TOGETHER because we love each oth- er. The Farm community is an example of Twenti- eth Century collective-tribal living. The residents are complete vegetarians, wearing no leather and eating no dairy products. Members gather on the porch of the Gate house to chat or read. (Photo by Pat Hood) WALKING IS ALMOST as fast as driving at ten miles per hour. Milford Stein and John Cagle walk down the road to join friends. Neither kids nor horses are in sight, but dust on the roads is always prevalent. (Photo by Pat Hood) STACKING WOOD at the Farm ' s saw mill are Jim Hurst and Fred Daniel. The Farm is 1750 acres of wooded land in the Tennessee hills. Quail, rabbits, deer, squirrels, possums, raccoons and other wild- life are preserved there. (Photo by Pat Hood) KIDS HORSES DUST P(ai4t.0h:m. 5fmd£imiii dim- I slOmok