America's brain drain

One of the greatest benefits for any homegrown American coming to the University of Pennsylvania is exposure to the diversity of people on our campus.

When I came to college, I met a Saudi, a Ukrainian and a Colombian for the first time. I felt like I'd bought a four-year pass to 'It's A Small World.' I was thrilled to meet these people, and it was certainly a valuable learning experience.

Penn's freshman class this year contained 335 international students. That's 13.6 percent of the incoming class. Well over 800 of our students are from foreign countries. The problem is that hundreds of them will be leaving the U.S. after they graduate, never to return. They come here to take advantage of our world-class education system, and then they leave.

I'm all for sharing the wealth and offering an outstanding education to anyone who wants it and is qualified. After all, intelligence and talent transcend national borders. I think, however, that all international students should come here with the understanding that they will use their education to somehow help the U.S. We should at least try to instill in them an appreciation for our country. But this is not happening as frequently as it used to.

America has long benefited from the drawing power of our freedoms and universities. It would have been the Nazis dropping the atom bomb on us had it not been for the persecution of Albert Einstein, his seeking refuge in New Jersey and the offering of a position at Princeton (I heard Penn rejected him for being underqualified). NASA and the entire space program practically wouldn't exist if some oppressed Soviets hadn't fled to the U.S. And of course, Terminator director James Cameron thankfully did not say, "I'll be back" when he left Canada to attend college in California.

Not all of these people were students at American universities, but the fact is these amazing individuals had their pick of nations to flee to, and they came to the U.S. They built our modern nation, turned it into a superpower, and it was only possible because they stayed here and contributed to our prosperity.

International students benefit the U.S. the most if they remain in our country. For the longest time, this was the trend. Students came for the education, and they stayed for Marilyn Monroe and T-birds. But the trend is reversing.

The Saudi I mentioned above was here because his father's oil company paid for his education. After two more years, he's going back to the Middle East. The Ukrainian never intended to stay here. And my friend the Colombian? Well, he'll visit Florida every so often to see EPCOT, but he's ultimately Bogota-bound.

Believe me, I understand immigration can cause problems with American unemployment. But this is not a case of unskilled workers usurping blue-collar jobs from Americans -- a common complaint heard in factories from Texas to Ohio. We're talking about highly-skilled individuals who we would rather have as contributors to our society than competitors elsewhere.

Weren't we all recently concerned about outsourcing? Well, the worst kind of outsourcing -- intellectual outsourcing -- was all but ignored in the last election. It is increasingly the case that the U.S. is not benefiting from educating Indian doctors, Chinese economists and Italian scientists. Instead, it's India, China and Italy who are getting the goods and the international upper hand.

There are certainly arguments to be made about helping them help themselves. Proverbs about teaching old men to fish and stuff like that. But all of that will mean diddly to the U.S. if foreign students don't leave with some sense of appreciation, some desire to return the favor. And we're worse off if their countries surpass ours in resources like talent, intellect and manpower.

Why do they leave? Tough immigration laws and problems with visas, among other issues. The government should be doing a lot about those problems, but a college campus can do little. We can, however, attempt to instill in international students an appreciation for America, perhaps through a collegiate program that demonstrates the facts, figures and stats that foreign students should know. We can show them they belong here, they will be more successful here and they have reasons -- better facilities, more opportunities and greater wealth -- to stay here.

And hell! Bring the whole family! Intellectual outsourcing is no longer outsourcing if the people taking the jobs are naturalized Americans and are contributing to our economy and even creating new jobs.

Let the teeming masses come to Penn's campus and enter through Liberty's golden door, but let's also make them want to stay awhile.

Justin Tackett is a sophomore in the College from Pittsburgh. Word! appears on Tuesdays.

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