DATE=March 15, 2002

TYPE=Dateline

NUMBER=7-36064

TITLE=Dateline: Foreign Students and 9-11

BYLINE=Larry Schooler

TELEPHONE=202-619-0112

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Neal Lavon

CONTENT=

INTRO: In the six months since the September 11th terrorist attacks, foreign-born citizens and new immigrants in the United States have come under increased scrutiny, and sometimes, suspicion. In today's Dateline report, we take a look at how one medium-sized city is handling the new post-attack concerns. Greensboro, North Carolina has a large foreign-born population, having developed into one of the nation's major hubs for new Americans. Long-time residents there who were born abroad, as well as recently arrived college students, have experienced some confusion and uncertainty in the months since the attacks. Correspondent Larry Schooler has more on the situation from Greensboro.

TEXT: In the past 20 years, Greensboro has welcomed an astounding number of new Americans. According to the 2000 Census, Latinos in particular - are moving to North Carolina in greater numbers than any other state in the country. During the last decade, the Latino population in the Greensboro area has grown from less than 2,000 to more than 12,000 -- a 400 percent increase. And the local university attracts people from all over the world. In fact, its international student enrollment has doubled since 1994. The influx of immigrants has been so great that the city and university opened an agency to address the needs of new arrivals The Center for New North Carolinians, based at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Raleigh Bailey is the Center's executive director.

TAPE: CUT 1: BAILEY

"And the goal [of the Center] really is to be neighborly, to build bridges between immigrant communities and mainstream communities."

TEXT: Dr. Bailey says one of the Center's functions is to help new immigrants get health care, while helping hospital staff understand the cultural needs of their new patients. But Dr. Bailey points out that since September 11th, cultural sensitivity and communication have taken on new meaning.

TAPE: CUT 2: BAILEY

"As we see the vast array of languages and cultures now, we have to spend more time on building communication bridges."

TEXT: It isn't just recent immigrants who are concerned about cultural awareness and sensitivity. Jasbir Singh has lived with his family in Greensboro for six years. He and his family came to the United States from India, and they practice the Sikh faith. As required by his faith, Mr. Singh and his son Anoop wear turbans. Anoop says he's felt completely comfortable in Greensboro, but something did change after the terrorist attacks.

TAPE: CUT 3: SINGH

"I was looking at shots (picture) of Bin Laden -- he has a beard, he has a turban -- and that's when it first hit me that, there was some fear that I didn't want to be confused with these people, and I was slightly afraid. There was one incident. I was just in front of house, and some guys drove by and yelled, "Taliban!" but that was the only incident I've had of any comments at all."

TAPE: CUT 4: NAT SOUND OF STUDENTS, TAKE UNDER:

TEXT: Hundreds of younger immigrants can be found at the local public University of North Carolina at Greensboro. At one of the dormitories, students from across the world gather each week for Friday Fest, a celebration of the cultures represented among the university's student body that began long before September 11th. The diversity on campus is as great as the United Nations -- students come from Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia, Ecuador and Egypt. Some are here on exchange programs, but many are full-time students whose families have emigrated to Greensboro.

Martha Trigonis serves as the school's director of International Student and Scholar Services. Her office promotes study-abroad programs for Americans and recruits international students to the University of North Carolina. Ms. Trigonis says the city of Greensboro itself is a major selling point for the school.

TAPE: CUT 5: TRIGONIS

"I sell Greensboro as a comfortable city, a safe city, and a green city, in terms of attracting international students here. Many family members like the thought of a place the size and the nature of Greensboro versus sending their son or daughter to a larger metro area like Miami, New York, or DC."

TEXT: Still, the safe image of Greensboro was disrupted immediately after September 11th. At least two international students were physically assaulted. In one confrontation, two unidentified men allegedly attacked Mazen Ahmad el Kassaa, a sophomore from Lebanon. According to the police, the men told Mr. Kassaa to "go home, terrorist." Mr. Kassaa eventually withdrew from school for the semester and has yet to return. His former roommate, Bilal Hamze, told reporters at the time of the attack that he was afraid to venture outside after being verbally harassed himself. Mr. Hamze has since declined repeated requests for comment. Besides being frightened by the campus assaults many international students say they were frustrated and puzzled by the school's response to the incident. Rabiya is a young woman from Bangladesh who moved to Greensboro several years ago with her family.

TAPE: CUT 6: RABIYA

"I don't know what they [the university] did. I didn't hear anything had taken place. I mean, I think we should have more forums to teach students to be more tolerant and not to stereotype, because we all kind of look the same, but we're different. We all come from different backgrounds."

TEXT: The university's formal response to the attack was a written statement from University Chancellor Pat Sullivan. It stated that "to affirm that acts of intolerance have no place at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, is to state the obvious." University police continue to investigate the six-month old incident. School officials say it will be difficult to catch the suspects, since Mazen Ahmad el Kassaa has yet to return to the school. But the university also has created a number of new services for international students in the wake of last year's terrorist attacks. It has started discussion forums and appointed committees to address students' concerns about safety and other post-attack issues. But international students are not the only people affected by the events of September 11th.

TAPE: CUT 7: NAT SOUND/ CASA DEL SOL CENTER

TEXT: In nearby Mount Airy, North Carolina, some of the record number of Latino immigrants arriving in state go to the Casa Del Sol Center for help. Magdalena Orozco is a volunteer who helps Latino immigrants complete the numerous documents required to obtain "legal immigrant status." Ms. Orozco says she's been overwhelmed by the number of people coming in for assistance since September 11th when, she says, all immigrants were suddenly required to have even more documentation to avoid suspicion. Now, for example, in order to get driver's licenses, all immigrants need either a social security number or an individual taxpayer identification number. Ms. Orozco says putting new immigrants through more confusing paperwork is unfair, no matter why the new rules have been imposed.

TAPE: CUT 8: OROZCO

"Why [us]? Mexicans? We did nothing with this, we don't have anything with this problem [we didn't have anything to do with the terrorist attacks] but, you know, it affected us in this way. We prefer to stay here [in the U-S] instead of having problems to coming back [into the country]. And the laws are changing every day. So more people that used to go to Mexico every year every Christmastime, or whatever they just wait. And some people just left."

TEXT: Ms. Orozco says that increased security concerns have also cost some immigrants their jobs. For example, Roza Maynor got a job in early January teaching breast-feeding to fellow Latina immigrant mothers. Her employers became uneasy when they learned that her immigration papers have yet to be processed, and they fired her.

TAPE: CUT 9: MAYNOR

"(Reporter)How did you feel?

(Maynor) Awful! I wanted to scream. Because I've been trying for five years to apply [for legal immigrant status]. And every time I go, they want to send me 10 years back to my country. And they say, 'you go back to your country for 10 years, wait over there, and when we get your case ready, we call you.'

Can you imagine how many people try to be citizen here in United States? And you think they're going to remember I'm over there?"

TEXT: Though Ms. Maynor has yet to find new work or obtain legal immigrant status, she's volunteering her services to the Casa Del Sol Center. Meanwhile, the community of Mount Airy has responded to the center's needs, with donations pouring in to help add resources and perhaps staff to meet the special needs of the Hispanic immigrant community. In spite of increased security concerns and several ugly incidents immediately after the terrorist attacks, life in and around Greensboro is settling down. The steady tide of international students into the University of North Carolina and international residents into the Greensboro area shows no sign of abating any time soon. But it will likely take time for both native and foreign-born Americans and those newly-arrived to return to the way it was before September 11th.

For Dateline, I'm Larry Schooler, in Greensboro, North Carolina.