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By Gina Hills
Like many college students,
Bandana Chatterjee is looking
forward to summer break when
she can go home and visit her
family.
But for this 23-year-old
graduate student, it may be a
little more exciting than for
most.
She hasn't seen her family
since August 1973 when she
left her home in India and
arrived at UNL to work on her
doctorate degree in chemistry.
Occasionally, she calls her
family in Calcutta, West
Bengal, but at $4 a minute, it's
kind of expensive.
Instead, she writes and receives two letters a week.
Even though intakes six to 10 days for one of her letters to
reach India, spending between 18 and 26 cents is more practical,
she said.
Chemistry assistantship
Chatterjee said she always wanted a doctorate degree, but really
never thought she'd get it in the United States.
She applied to UNL because she thought it would be a good
experience to move away from home and meet new people.
"We hear mainly of the coastal U.S. and I thought real America
was in the midwest," she added.
She made her final decision to attend UNL when she discovered
she could get a research assistantship.
Chatterjee receives no money from her parents, and the $322 a
month, less taxes, is her only financial support, she said.
No dollar problems
"But I have no problems financially," she said. "I don't think
it's that difficult to live on $322 a month in Lincoln," she added.
This semester she lives in an R St. apartment with another
Indian graduage student. The semester before, she lived alone.
When she first came to Lincoln, she lived in International
House. There she saw her first snowfall and learned to speak and
understand "the American dialect," she said.
Although she knew British English before she came, she said
American proununication is difficult to understand. But, within a
month she said she could speak and understand it easily.
Her roommate this year is from a different part of India and
(Continued on p. 8)
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fllvaro Corzo
and
daughter Gloria
Two
student's
profiles
By Mary Kay Roth
When Alvaro Carvajal-Corzo
came to Nebraska from
Bogota, Colombia, two years
ago, he didn't come
alone with him were his three
children and an expectant wife.
Now his family of six is
squeezed into a small
apartment. Gloria, his wife
who speaks no English, and
four children, Maria 7; Gloria,
6; Juan, 4; and Alvaro, 2, all
wait the time they can return
to Columbia.
Carvajal arrived at UNL in
August, 1973, to learn about
agricultural economics. His
expenses are paid by the Central Bank in Colombia, where he
worked before coming to Nebraska. The bank pays tuition,
transportation, housing, insurance, plus monthly payments for
additional costs.
"It's not that we don't like it here," Carvajal said, "it's just that
it was better in Colombia."
Hostility experienced
Carvajal said he was used to "complete, strong relationships, not
only with family, but also with friends." But it seems different to
him in America.
"Many people just don't like foreigners, and it's not difficult to
tell." Carvajal said "You just get a feeling from them, and you.
know it means stay away."
Six months ago Caravajal said he and his family were asked to
move from their first apartment by the landlord, because they
"made too much noise."
After Caravajal moved, the landlord refused to return the $50
deposit.
"I don't like to fight," Carvajal said, "and so I just let it go. If
he wanted us to move, for one reason or another, we'd move.'
Small apartment now
"Besides, I'm not going to ask my children to stop laughing and
playing like every child should be able to," he explained. In
Colombia, the Carvajals own a large home with a huge back yard.
So they now live in a smaller apartment, with the four children
dashing around the living room chattering half in English and half
in Spanish.
The two oldest girls attend public grade school, and one boy
(Continued on p. 10)
I -House traverses international boundries
By Deb Gray
Azin Khan, a Pakastani, lives next to Hamid Kahn,
an Indian. They are from adjoining countries
experiencing a schism of political ideas.
But for these men, and 68 others living in Neihardt
Residential Center, political differences do not affect
individual relationships in most cases.
As Adib Butt, another Pakastani student, said, 'I
don't think this is the right place for that. We came
here to learn about other cultures. We leave our
differences back home."
This concept in dormitory living is International
House, where each foreign student rooms with an
American one. Forged from the hope that individuals
supersede politics, I-House aims to widen a student's
perspective on the world.
Thirty-four foreign students now live in I-House,
six per cent of the 585 foreign students now
attending UNL. The 75-space living unit is almost
filled to capacity with five vacancies stiil open for
second semester.
Expectir? rejuvenation
Since I-House opened four years ago, there has
been a growing trend in America toward isolationism,
according to Time magazine. How has this trend
affected the I-House spirit? Does I-House fulfill a
need for the foreign student?
J3y Hall, a graduate student working toward a
degree in social psychology, lived in I-House when it
opened in Sept. 1971. This fall, he became director.
He doesn't know where I-House is headed, he said,
but the time has come for rejuvenation.
Wednesday, february 5, 1975
11
"We're moving towards new activities the kind
that reach out to the community," he said. "We are
not just a group of 70 people living in the dorm. We
want to relate to anyone who wants to relive an
experience from a country they're interested in or
have visited."
While I-House is still active-sponsoring ethnic
dinners and forums-Hall said its spirit has changed.
Excitement lacking
"In the beginning, the people who had worked to
get the thing approved we're still here. Everything was
new. Everyone felt a part of creating something,"
Hall said.
"To many people now, I-House is a nice place to
live and they think it's great to have activities. But
they don't have the excitement that comes from
being a part of making something happen."
Hall compared I-House with a family, because
although the residents usually get along well,
"Sometimes you hate your brothers and sisters.
"It's a model Peyton Place. The rumors travel like
wildfire. It's unbelievable. And often the person
who's the most directly affected is the last to hear.
You really have to watch it. I think we sometimes kill
ourselves to be sensitive to each other."
In the future, Hall said he hopes he and his staff
will "try to come up with ideas to revive the old
spirit.
"I think a lot of the things that we used to do:
fellby the wayside. But sometimes things from the
past are really great."
Zeman starts I House
The past for I-House began five years ago, largely
(Continued on p. 9)
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