More Foreign Students Should Study in the U.S.
As I read Dina Khayat’s Aug. 18 Opinion column, “Passport to a Future,” my mind was nodding in agreement. The Bush administration and Congress should take her eloquent arguments in support of foreign students studying at U.S. universities to heart. “Education is one of the most effective tools in the fight against terrorism.” It would be shortsighted to place restrictions on foreign student visas.
As a former Peace Corps volunteer, I have strong positive feelings about exchange programs. Two of the Peace Corps goals are to help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the peoples served and a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the American people. Khayat proves the importance of her time at Columbia University with her statement, “When the Sept. 11 attacks took place ... [they] destroyed a piece of me. Because in the end ... I carry indelibly a piece of America in me.” We need more international students attending our colleges and universities, not fewer.
Gene Tackett
Bakersfield
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