Editor’s Note: This is the third in a four-part series examining the challenges faced by international students at Iowa State. This article discusses social opportunities available for international students.

Cultural events help international students bring a bit of home to Iowa State, a opportunity which will continue with the help of student leaders.

“Most of my friends I made through orientation that the International Education Service organizes,” Priyanka Murthy, senior in economics from India, said. “I met people from all over, which made me feel a lot more at home.”

Brenda Thorbs-Weber, assistant director at the International Education Services, said the program offers several annual activities to help international students, such as a week-long orientation held each semester.

The International Education Services also sponsors Friday Cafe in the Maintenance Shop in the Memorial Union every Friday. The last Friday Cafe of spring semester will be held at 3 p.m. Friday.

“It’s an event where international students can meet American students,” Thorbs-Weber said.

Other events organized by the International Education Service are the International Week in the fall and the International Food Festival during Veishea in the spring. “International Week is a week of activities where international students can share their cultures,” Thorbs-Weber said.

Events such as International Week is the reason Tolga Sener, sophomore in industrial engineering from Turkey, said he thought Iowa State was perfect for him.

But he said he is concerned about how international students groups find adequate funding for activities.

“[The Government of the Student Body] encourages and funds the International Student Organizations. They use the money for multicultural activities,” Sener said. “Unfortunately, GSB is cutting down the funds for I.S. Organizations. Those organizations need the money to share their culture and organize activities beneficial to Iowa State.”

Steve Medanic, GSB finance director, said there were some funding changes because the International Student Council treasurer had some “unfortunate personal issues, so individual groups had to ask GSB for funds for the first time.”

Then when individual groups did approach the GSB Finance Committee, the committee learned that students fees were being used occasionally to sponsor fund-raisers – which can not be funded by GSB.

According to GSB Bylaws, GSB funds may only go toward what is termed as “criteria expenses.”

“By funding a fund-raiser, we are using student fees to generate revenue to be spent on any item the organization wishes,” Medanic said. “In effect, student fees would then be going to any of these items, which may or may not include items we deem non-criteria.”

Since this information was not known in past finance committee meetings, some international student groups didn’t receive all the money they had requested this year.