normalnoises Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 Pol aims to oust foreigners from state http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/stud05292003.htmby Elisabeth J. Beardsley and David R. Guarino Thursday, May 29, 2003Bay State students who hail from seven terrorism-sponsoring nations would be summarily ejected from public colleges and universities under a new Republican bill that sparked accusations of a witch hunt from Islamic activists and civil libertarians.``If Saddam wants to send Uday or Qusay over to go to UMass-Amherst, I would like to say we don't accept them,'' said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, who filed the controversial legislation.The bill, which faces an uphill battle through the House and Senate, would deny a taxpayer-funded education to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Cuba, North Korea and Sudan.Those seven countries have been identified as terrorism sponsors by President Bush's State Department.Modeled after a similar proposal in Indiana, Jones' bill would ban any new state college enrollees from the blacklisted countries - and force existing students to finish the semester and pack their bags.Students could avoid being kicked to the curb by disavowing their homeland and converting to United States citizenry, Jones (R-North Reading) said.At least 42 current students would face expulsion under the bill, including 18 from Iran, 10 from North Korea, six from Sudan, two from Libya, and three apiece from Cuba and Syria, according to data provided by higher education officials.No Iraqi nationals are currently enrolled at the 15 state colleges, 29 community colleges or the five campuses of the University of Massachusetts, officials said.Student activists cried foul, saying it's un-American to blindly padlock the schoolhouse doors over free-floating fears of terrorism.UMass Boston Student Senate President Tuan Pham, a Vietnam native who's lived here for 17 years, bluntly branded the bill as ``wrong.''``As an immigrant I know what it means, the value of an education,'' Pham said. ``The United States is not a country where we should deny access to public higher education.''Islamic activists protested that the bill smacks of an anti-Muslim witch hunt.``That's the problem in right wing circles nowadays - they view all Muslims as suspects,'' said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Jones insisted he's only targeting evildoers - disputing the anti-Muslim allegation by pointing to the list's inclusion of non-Islamic nations like Cuba and North Korea.``This is a pretty exclusive list, and I don't think you get on that list by shooting spitballs across the table at UN meetings at Colin Powell,'' Jones said.UMass officials reacted coolly, saying the school takes ``tremendous pride'' in its international students while noting that federal civil rights law bans discrimination over national origin.The university has complied fully with new federal rules requiring schools to track foreign students, officials said.``We're very cognizant of those (security) responsibilities, but also cognizant of the rights people have once they enter the United States,'' said UMass spokesman Robert Connolly.Civil libertarians also took Jones to task, saying no proposal ``this extreme'' has surfaced in any other state.``Albert Einstein wouldn't be allowed to go to a state college under this because he was from Nazi Germany,'' said Norma Shapiro of the ACLU of Massachusetts. ``It's a foolish overreaction.'' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr mahs Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 Pack em up and get them the fuck out.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramadas Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 Originally posted by mr mahs Pack em up and get them the fuck out.... Thats a dumb statement which reeks of racism. Let the INS take care of security - once cleared they should have every right to undertake study. And its not like the state sponsers their education - they have to pay from their pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr mahs Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 Originally posted by raver_mania Thats a dumb statement which reeks of racism. Let the INS take care of security - once cleared they should have every right to undertake study. And its not like the state sponsers their education - they have to pay from their pockets. I know it was raw.. The findings on how people like Dr Germ or The Sheik kahedd mohammed received educations from american universities troubles me. Unfortunatley those celebrity terrorists ruined it for everyone else.. Rememeber the 19 high jackers attended american universities so I think it's a good idea to investigate or suspend indefinetly the student visa program until a better way of screening these people is implemented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicman Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 if they suspend the foreign student visa program, then there will be a severe lack of engineers and doctors in this country. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr mahs Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 Originally posted by vicman if they suspend the foreign student visa program, then there will be a severe lack of engineers and doctors in this country. :laugh: :laugh: Very true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmatas2277 Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 Originally posted by raver_mania Let the INS take care of security - once cleared they should have every right to undertake study. And its not like the state sponsers their education - they have to pay from their pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmatas2277 Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 Originally posted by normalnoises The bill, which faces an uphill battle through the House and Senate, would deny a taxpayer-funded education to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Cuba, North Korea and Sudan. we will see what they will say when the Cuban exile community here in Miami, NYC and NJ get a wiff of this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintron Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 touchy issue, esp. considering many of our adversaries throughout history as well as members of their organizations recieved their educations here in the good Ol' USA.Pearl Harbor? Admiral Yamamoto?Graduate of Harvard.just one example.It's a thin line and a tough issue, but it's impossible to predict a person's future actions simply from their nationality...at least most of the time anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normalnoises Posted May 31 Author Report Share Posted May 31 Originally posted by cintron touchy issue, esp. considering many of our adversaries throughout history as well as members of their organizations recieved their educations here in the good Ol' USA.Pearl Harbor? Admiral Yamamoto?Graduate of Harvard.just one example.It's a thin line and a tough issue, but it's impossible to predict a person's future actions simply from their nationality...at least most of the time anyways. And don't forget Albert Einstein. He was from Nazi Germany and received his colloge education in the "good ol" USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramadas Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 Originally posted by normalnoises And don't forget Albert Einstein. He was from Nazi Germany and received his colloge education in the "good ol" USA. He was a genius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normalnoises Posted June 3 Author Report Share Posted June 3 Originally posted by raver_mania He was a genius. Without a shadow of a doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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