The Bush administration may soon take another step toward limiting the freedoms of international students in the spirit of preserving national security.
According to Monday's Chronicle for Higher Education, President Bush has formed an interagency work group to consider barring some international students from studying academic fields that have a direct application to the development and use of weapons of mass destruction. Among the fields of study that may be restricted are nuclear technology, chemical engineering, biotechnology, advanced computer technology and robotics.
Rhonda Norsetter, special assistant to the chancellor, said UW-Madison has joined other universities in speaking regularly with members of White House staff to ensure that educators have the opportunity to give input on the final proposals. However, Norsetter said it has been hard to find out which direction the administration's committee is going.
\I do think people working on it have an understanding of how a university functions and needs to function,"" Norsetter said. ""Hopefully they take that under consideration as they come up with some proposals.""
Despite much speculation on what the interagency group may recommend, spokesperson Kathryn Harrington of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said coalition is still in the decision-making process. However, Harrington said it is likely the committee will seek consult from the scientific and academic community.
""There is an interagency working group out of the Office of Homeland Security that's made up of people from the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy that includes the Department of Justice, State, etc.,"" Harrington said. ""All the groups are brought together to discuss why this is necessary.""
Norsetter has been aware of the existence of the interagency group since October.
""I think it's been an in-house process so far and ... they will then turn to those outside the White House once they have some proposals. [These] may be forthcoming in the next week,"" Norsetter said.
Harrington said the details are still being worked out and the group has no specific date to release its recommendations.
Asif Sheikh, a UW-Madison senior and president of the Muslim Student Association, said the idea of recommendations to limit areas of study to international students does not make sense to him.
""There is no need to discriminate against international students who want to study science and math,"" Sheikh said.
Sheikh said if the directives are enforced, many international students would be taken aback and less likely to study in the United States.
Norsetter said she did not know how a future directive would affect international student enrollment, but that this year UW-Madison and many other universities are seeing an increase in international applications.
Harrington said the interagency group is sensitive to international students' contributions to American universities.
""It's important to know the interagency group is working hard to balance the needs of homeland security with the contributions that international students do make [to our universities],"" Harrington said.
