Among the Student Service Finance Committee elections and bylaw changes, the Campus Antiwar Network was able to add the Iraqi Student Project to the ASM spring polls.
ISP is a nationwide initiative to bring Iraqi university students to the United States to attend various universities across the country. Their attendance would be free of charge, as one side effect of the United State's War in Iraq has been the complete breakdown of higher education in Iraq. An article on the Iraqi Student Project's website states hundreds of Iraqi professors and thousands of students have been abducted or murdered as a direct result of failed U.S. policy in Iraq.
To date, 15 universities participate in the Iraqi Student Project. However, there is a catch. Every single participant thus far is a small, private, liberal arts university with high tuitions and massive private endowments. The one exception is Columbia College of Chicago, which is all of the above but has 11,000 students. UW-Madison's current budget problems do not leave room to completely pay for tuition, living expenses, travel and books of five Iraqi students, which is what CAN wants. The CAN initiative sought to make UW-Madison the first large, public university to support the national project.
The initiative calls for a $1 per semester tuition increase for every student at UW starting in the fall 2008 semester. By raising tuition $1, the price of a highlighter from the vending machine in College Library, the university can afford to fully fund five Iraqi students to come to Madison and study without the fear of being abducted or murdered by sectarian violence.
A major argument against ISP asks how removing Iraq's best and brightest assists in rebuilding its educational system. Proponents of this argument fail to understand that U.S. visas are not indefinite. The students will need to return upon completion of their education. Additionally, many U.S. student visas require them to return to their home country and live there for two years before coming back to the United States.
The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board applauds the students who helped make the Iraqi Student Project pass. Why stop at $1, though?
This initiative should expand for increased student contributions. Instead of capping our altruism, $1 should be the minimum contribution, and the Board of Regents should allow students to donate additional money to their tuition at their own discretion. Instead of that grande mocha from Starbucks, you can help 20 Iraqi students finish their education, and help them rebuild Iraq one graduate at a time.
