Internat'l students join in council

International student leaders on campus are hoping that out of diversity comes cooperation as they organize several international student groups into an International Club Council. According to the ICC's president, College sophomore Martin Muoto, the new organization is intended to give different international groups the chance to work together toward a common goal of developing the "international character" of the University. "We aim to help the many fragmented international clubs," Muoto said. "Each one can only reach a small group," he said. "They are providing many parallel services to their members. We hope to be able to pool resources." Muoto said the council aims to increase communication between the individual groups. This, he said, will allow the groups to more effectively deal with the University administration and to co-sponsor events. "Each ethnic and cultural society adds to the cultural enrichment of the University," Muoto said. "We certainly don't intend to erase the nationality of these groups. But by working with the leaders of these groups we can collect information about events and activities that will benefit everybody." College junior Michael D'Arcy, a co-founder of the ICC, said yesterday that coordination through the council will make each group's events "more accessible" to the other groups. In addition, D'Arcy said the groups working together could figure out how to cut administrative red tape to help bring the "best and brightest" of other countries to school in the United States. The ICC has already planned two cooperative events. An International Mini World Cup, in which member groups will play soccer against each other, has attracted a lot of enthusiasm, Muoto said. He added that the overwhelming interest in soccer helps unite all the international groups. There are also plans for a culture festival where each member organization will feature presentations on dance, food and language. The groups represented at the first meeting held on Sunday responded favorably to the idea of such a council, Muoto said. Fifteen of the University's approximately forty international and cultural groups attended. "The representatives were all very enthusiastic," Muoto said. "They want to make something of the ICC. The life of the club will depend on the interest of the individual groups. We are very optimistic." The next meeting of the International Club Council is on April 14th, in Vance Hall, room B-1.

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