[URGENT] Appeal to all Indians at USC

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fn:Association of Indian Students
org:Association of Indian Students;
adr:;;TSC, University of Southern California;Los Angeles;CA;90089-0981;USA
version:2.1
email;internet:india@usc.edu
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Hi all,

We Indians pride ourselves on being the most populous international group on campus. The association of Indian students (AIS) has been getting the " most ambitious student organization" award from the International students' assembly for two consecutive years now.

In spite of all these, it is shocking to see that we Indians@USC portray a very sad picture in front of the incoming students.

Each year at this time, a large numbers of Indians leave the safety of their homes and land in this city, to start a journey to get the education that will shape their careers. Every year, the AIS organizes temporary accommodations for these incoming students so that they have a place to stay until they find themselves a home. We depend on volunteers to accommodate these people.

Here is a snapshot of the current status this year, as sent by the handlers of temp. accommodation.

Number of people who have applied: 138
Number of volunteers: 11
Number of people currently assigned housing: 12

Yes, in about 2 days time, people will start coming in. If we do not get enough volunteers we will have a lot of "homeless" Indians here, many of them girls. Thanks to some very generous student volunteers, we do have an "emergency location", where they can land if nothing else works until then. However, this is not a practical solution.

It seems strange that although we can come together to enjoy holi, diwali and garba, we Indians here at USC cannot come forward to host the incoming students, who desperately need our help and guidance. It does not make sense to have an "association of Indian students" when the "association" itself is lacking among the "Indian students"

This is an appeal to all Indians at 'SC to come forward and help out with hosting these students for a short while. The time ranges from 4 days to max a week. It will not be a huge problem to host a guest for that time in your place, but it will be of immense importance to that person.

People not living in the USC area can also help. Surely a student will not mind having to take a bus from and to a place like Culver City if he/she has a place to stay at.

We realize that many are unaware of the seriousness of the situation, hence this email with the numbers. Also, we know that not all desis read the yahoogroups/listserv emails, so please forward this to all your USC friends. This is one email that you will not regret forwarding.

Please send an email to usctempacco@yahoo.com to help out. Even if you cannot help out because of circumstances, please let all your friends know about this need.

The incoming students need your support.

Thanks and regards
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Association of Indian Students
Norman Topping Student Center
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0981

email: india@usc.edu url: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~india
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