THEVISTA University of Central Oklahoma
INSIDE • Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 2 • Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 3 • Far From Home . . . . . . . . PAGE 4 • Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 6 • Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGES 7 & 8
Wrestling heads to Nebraska Page 7
THE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE
THURSDAY• November 15, 2012
The Student Voice Since 1903
BRONZE & BLUE PLANET WWW.UCENTRALMEDIA.COM
Canadian hockey finds home in Edmond pg. 5
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Passport to England brings opera to campus pg. 3
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UCO’s international community growing pg. 1
Don Betz: The U.N. story pg. 5
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Guest column: The University of Cape Town pg. 3
International students: Their stories pg. 4
Central goes global
International students pose with placards of their native languages at UCO International House, Nov. 9, 2012. Photo by Cyn Sheng Ling, The Vista
• ADAM HOLT, Staff Writer • The Office of International Services continues to grow and meet the needs of international students and those who want to study abroad. The office runs several programs to benefit both traditional UCO students and international students, often at the same time. One example of this is Broncho Buddies. The program pairs a domestic student with an international student through common interests. Throughout a semester, the two students attend events and hang out.
The time together proves beneficial for both students as they learn another culture and begin to see the world through another’s eyes. Brandon Lehman, coordinator of international activities for UCO, has seen the popularity of Broncho Buddies increase by jumps and bounds in his two years in office. “In the beginning we had 80 students involved in Broncho Buddies,” he said. “At our last kickoff, we had 360 students.” Broncho Buddies fits in a group of
growing programs that Lehman refers to as “glocal,” or learning globally in a local environment. The Community Responding to International Students Program (CRISP) embeds an international student with a local American family. Ignite is a program where a group of UCO students spend a day with an international family living in the Edmond area. The family often takes the students to a festival or another event and have dinner together, exposing the students to another
way of life. Making Experiential Research Globally Engaging, or MERGE, takes international students and has them speak to classes. For example, a mass communication professor may have a student from China speak to their students about the workings of Chinese media. The international services “study abroad” program continues to add news countries and universities for UCO students to travel to and learn. The program has expanded its presence in South Korea, starting a partnership with Inje University in Buson. UCO now has residences in 25 countries across the globe. The newest addition to the Office of International Services is the Central International House. The house, located just north of UCO at 912 N Chowning Avenue, is a continued push by the university to grow its intercultural environment. The International House will not only be a place where international students can experience the UCO environment in a less formal atmosphere, it will also be used for events for UCO organizations and outside organizations. The house opened Nov. 6. Lehman encourages all students to gain international exposure in any way possible. “Dare to be adventurous in two ways,” he said. “In your everyday life here, and in the long term. That means meeting someone here with international ties, and go to a new place and live the experience.”