Asian students feel market crunch

Economic woes force s. Korean students to cancel visit; economies improving slowly

by Ryan MacClanathan Managing Ediwr

The Asian market crash ha s left several international s tudents achi ng forfunds.

Short of cas h and lacking few options to obtain more many Asian students at NIC arc thinking twice about stay ing in th e United States.

"Their damn money isn't what it used to be ," said Gene LeRoy , int ernatio nal student adviser.

LeRoy said s tud e nt s from Korea, Indonesia and Thailand are feeling th e c run c h the most. Japanese st ud en ts have not been affected as much, because their economy is stro nger.

Money problems ha s also c han ged stude nt 's plans abo ut comi ng to NIC.

birth so metim e in March.

He wants to return home because he doesn't want to regret not seeing his first child born, he said. It's hard for him to leave because he wants to achieve his dream of rinishing his educat ion, he said.

The ima ge of rich Asian students coming to American students s imply to have a good tim e is a myth, Kim said.

When someone asks me why I'm here. I can say it's because I want to get a good education " Kim said. "Most of the Asian students come here to study - not to relax or have a vacation.''

LeRoy said at o ne time he had funds he cou ld dole out to foreign students. But that all changed in 1992 when a lot of enrichment to a local re s ident complained to the board of trustees. he said. Co ll ege offic ial s halted funding for international st ud ents, leaving LeRoy and th e students und e r his care with few op ti ons.

-Gene LeRoy

International student adviser their country's economic problems.

A group of 26 South Korean students from NIC's sister college had 10 cance l a scheduled visit to NIC days before their departure due to the college, " Due to immigration laws. most international :,, tudent s are restricted to oncampus jobs. Financial aid is restricted to regular scholarsh ip s that international students must compete with American stude nt s to obtain.

Pre;ident of the International Students Relations Club Gue-Young Kim. 26. sa id he is personally feeling the effect of South Korea's market crash.

Although his country's economy is improving , Kim said his money is wm,h about half of what it used to be.

Kim re turned to South Korea earlier this semester to be with his but sa id he plans on coming back to NIC soo n to continue

Kim's said his wife return ed 10 Korea Jan. 17 and is expected to give

LeRoy said he is st ill ange red by the decision. and says that it is not fair to foreign students and hu11s the college.

"Foreign students bring a lot of enrichment to the college,'· he said. adding that the majority of th em have high GP As.

"A lot of people have the impress ion that foreign students have a lot of money: that is B.S.," he sa id.

Each se mest e r the International Students ' Club hosts a foreign-food buffet to he lp raise sc holarship money. Last semes ter the club co ll ected $600 to grant two sc hol a rship s.

Transfer student enrollment is

According to the reg i strar office, the most popular spri academic programs are general a undecided s tudies with 7 students down by 57 students, decreasing Business administration folio from 2.910 in 1997 to 2.859. with 241, education with 30

With an enro llm e nt decrease, nursin g and pre - nursin g with:! parking still remains a problem for law enforcement with 91 a students.

Bob Thomson, campus securi ty officer, said many students claim that there is no place to park. He said the college has many open spaces. " They·re a l ways going to complain about parking," Thomson sa id.

Thomson said the rec onstruc tion of th e SUB caused so me of the loss in parking spots.

"The problem is that s tudent, feel the y need to park right in front of their classes,'' he said.

Campus sec urity said they did not have many problem s w ith students not having parking permits.

David Lindsay, dean of students, said he had no complaints from Mudents this se mester about closing down the SUB.

The fact that there is a fence around the SUB and something is going on, helps keep students happy. Lindsay said. With the SUB closed, administration found new spots on engineering wit h 77. This semeste r the averai student age is 26. The camp population is 60 perc en t femal and 40 percent male. NIC has st udent s from th e fi no rth ern cou ntie s. Scvcnty-thr percent of students are fro Kootenai: 9.7 percent. Bonner: percent. Shoshone: 2 perccn Bennewah and 2 percent fro Boundary. This spring. N IC has .\I internati onal students from Asi Australia. Europe. North Ameri and the Caribbean Is land s. Gene LeRoy, internation s tudent adviser, said NIC wou have had more internation students. but the financial situati of many East Asian s tu dents d not allow many st ud ents to come. NIC Registrar Kar en Street said many sc hool s hav e had me drops in enrollment. She sa id int erim President Ron Bell was pleased NIC's enrollmen didn't drop much.

The Body Pride Fair 1998

Promoting

• Blood Pressure

• Snacks

• Style Show

• Stress Testing

• Tai Chi

• Belly Dancing

• Free Massages All Day

9 am · 2 pm Tuesday, February 24th

NIC Library Foyer & Todd Hall

Sponsored by North Idaho College Counseling Services