NYU implements program to track foreign students

NEW YORK - New York University will monitor the status and academic progress of foreign students and visiting scholars as part of a new, computerized government tracking system, a New York University official said.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service, which tracks foreigners in the United States, has created a new online database that it will use to track visitors with student visas, according to a recent memo from the university's Office of International Students and Scholars.

Although INS requirements for foreign students will remain the same, the agency no longer will tolerate late or erroneous information about students, OISS Director Gail Child Szenes said.

The announcement about the new program came on the heels of an embarrassing snafu last week when the INS issued updated student visas to Mohammed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi, despite the fact the two men died when they piloted planes into the World Trade Center months beforehand.

Applications from minority students rise for U. Texas

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - More students than ever before, including a record number of minority applicants, want to attend Texas A&M University this fall.

As of March 11, a total of 19,689 high school and transfer students had applied for admission as freshmen, with increases in all categories including black and Hispanic populations.

Black applicants totaled 954, with a 13 percent increase from past averages. Hispanic applicants total 2,330, a 3 percent increase, Ashley said.

"The increase is incredible. We thought the negative publicity would bring them down," Ashley said.

Even though the number of applications increased, the admissions office cannot predict whether recent negative publicity about Texas A&M's acceptance of minorities will decrease the number of prospective students who decide to attend Texas A&M. A recent study by Texas A&M's Race and Ethnic Studies Institute found minorities attending the school felt unwelcome.

U. Virginia policy changed following 5 bomb threats

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Following a string of erroneous bomb threats on University of Virginia buildings, the administration has revised and clarified its policies for such situations.

Five bomb threats have been made on University buildings over the past five weeks. University police have made only one arrest in connection to the threats but are pursuing leads, University Police Sgt. Melissa Fielding said.

The most significant policy change stemming from the spate of threats is classes no longer will be canceled in the event of a bomb threat.

Instead, professors have been instructed to announce an alternative meeting site at which to gather if regular classroom buildings are closed because of a threat. Once students and professors gather at the alternative site, a University official will inform the group which available classroom space they may use.

U. Hawaii GSIs mull possibility of forming union

HONOLULU - The state Legislature voted down a bill to form a collective bargaining unit for graduate assistants, but teaching assistants and part-time lecturers at the University of Hawaii say unionization is still possible.

Senator Suzanne Chun-Oakland, of the state House education and labor committee, said graduate students can still collaborate with the administration to reach a resolution.

The vice-president of administration and chief financial officer of the University of Hawaii James Sloane, testified to the education and labor committees on the institution's sentiments concerning the bill.

- Compiled from U-Wire reports by Daily Staff Reporter Maria Sprow.