39 Middle Eastern students re-enroll for classes at U. Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. (U-WIRE) -
Thirty-nine of the 68 Middle Eastern students who withdrew last semester from classes at the University of Arizona have re-enrolled for the spring, said university spokeswoman Sharon Kha.

The students, mostly from the United Arab Emirates, withdrew in mid-September due to fears and concerns about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Nasser Alnuaimi, president of the Muslim Students Association.

"Another thing is that their families do not have the same picture of things over there," he said.

Alnuaimi, a civil engineering graduate student, said many students' families overseas do not think it is safe for the students to remain in the United States.

"I dropped my classes because my wife was very afraid," said Jumaa Al-maskari, a mechanical engineering junior. "One of the reasons was anthrax. So I went home, and my family said I did not have to return."

While Al-maskari said he never experienced any hostility from the students at the University of Arizona, he did not plan on returning until Imam Omar Shahin, director of the Islamic Center of Tucson, paid his family a visit in the UAE. "(Shahin) came to my father and told him that I can go back, that it was safe to go back," Al-maskari said.

- Arizona Daily Wildcat

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