Students: Surveillance fee unfair

Massachusetts Daily Collegian ^ | 2/28/04 | Lovley

[pabianice]

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," chanted a group of nearly 120 University of Massachusetts student protestors in the reception area of Chancellor John V. Lombardi's third floor office in the Whitmore Administration Building yesterday.

The protestors were part of a rally, organized by the Graduate Employee Organization, denouncing the new international student fee, which requires all international students on campus to pay $65 to fund a government monitoring system known as the Student Exchange Visitor Information System.

The fee applies only to international students.

"This fee is discriminatory, unfair, and not something to stand up for," said President Chris Vials of the Graduate Student Employee Organization.

[pabianice]

How many of the 9-11 hijackers were Americans?

[gaspar]

In case you would like to provide your opinion, send to: vials@hfa.umass.edu

[abclily]

Don't want to pay the fee? Go to school in your own country. You have no right to demonstrate in my country. I want somebody to deport you if you demonstrate in my country.

[Glenn]

This fee is probably being paid by we taxpayers in many cases.

[facedown]

Rally members then formed a train, which was led by Vials, and marched to Whitmore, chanting, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, this racist fee has got to go."

Racist?

"If [Lombardi] needs an example, he can look at the University of Wisconsin-Madison," said Lasade-Piano.

Yeah, there's a paradigm.

When the chancellor was told this, he said that students who don't like the fee can leave the school.

My kind of guy.

[WV Mountain Mama]

The ones that are here to learn and are thankful to be in our country having this chance will do this and not whine. The others can go back to where they came from and go to school.

[freep_toad]

A $65 fee for international students to cover the research on their possible connections to murderous organizations is "racist"?
But double-plus tuition for national citizen students who just happen to be from another state is not? Hmmmm?

I think they have their words confused. This is not racism. If this were merely a profit-making scheme, it would be "facism", wouldn't it?

Methinks they are screaming "Racism!" simply because the word itself is similar to crying "Witch!" in the old Salem-era witch hunts.

[kenth]

Lang, whose stepmother was an international student herself, sees the fee as an unnecessary taxation to students who are already burdened with life in a foreign country.

"International students do so much for us already," she said. "It's completely unjust to tax them more. The effort they put in just to be here is incredible."

If it is so unjust, why doesn't she offer to pay for their fee? But, I'm sure she would rather congratulate herself as being a good person while trying to make everyone else pay for it.

"[Everyone] should join the revolution," said speaker Rene Gonzalez, a member of the Office of ALANA Affairs. "Chancellor Lombardi, Mr. Gargano, hear me when I say, I'm not going to pay [the fee]," he said, drawing applause from the crowd.

It would have been great if the chancellor immediately expelled him and called immigration.

[DustyMoment]

"Lang, whose stepmother was an international student herself, sees the fee as an unnecessary taxation to students who are already burdened with life in a foreign country."

EXCUSE ME!!!????? ". . . already burdened with life in a foreign country."!!!!????

We didn't ask them to come here, they did it of their own free will. Unhappy in America?? LEAVE!!!!!! GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY!!

Idiots!