There is a certain point of view of a considerable section of the lowa State student body that the Daily has always been amiss of printing. For example, the headliner of the Feb. 13 issue that was concerning a very serious and sensitive topic was published without any effort to seek the opinions of those who would be most seriously affected. I refer to the article about Mark Nimmer and Casey Powers, who are vying for a Senate position seat, about which, they have explicitly stated, that they have no intention of representing.

Powers sole purpose for running for the international senator position is that he wants to scratch that senate position from the GSB. Now there are 2,500 students on campus who have an opinion about not being represented. Are they not to suppose that this situation, taken at its face value, is an attempt to undermine their rights? What message does this situation give them? Is it not directly saying to them that, no, you are not to be represented?

Indeed, an international student is so taken up in trying to assimilate the new culture, the new language, in trying to make new friends, in trying to make sense out of this American life, that he/she has no time to actually start fighting for his/her rights. But instead of providing them with special treatment, a little bit of consideration and help, if only because they are foreigners, it is being suggested that there be no one to bring up their issues to the mainstream of campus activities. After all, who does Mr. Powers expect will raise a voice when the university decides to make it compulsory for international students to pay a part of their tuitions before they even arrive in the United States?

And then what role has the Daily played so far? Is it not a form of bias to present only one side of the deal? I would think it becomes a duty for reporters to go out and seek the opinions of so many other people instead of waiting for letters like this to come to them.

Diversity, global village, multi-cultural experience, international environment; are these big words to amount to nothing? I think that just because these words imply desirable objectives, everyone on this campus would support their implementations. No one would be against it. People usually like positive changes to their surroundings. And now is a time for those same people to take action. Now is a time for lowa State to show solidarity toward its treasure, the wealth of culture that makes lowa State like no other.

M. Khurram Aleem

President

International Student Council