Date:01/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/01/stories/2006080101430200.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Alcorn State University woos researchers

Nivedita Ganguly

Idea is to give Indian students international exposure

VISAKHAPATNAM: There was pin drop silence as the voice of Dr. Clinton Bristow, the president of Alcorn State University of USA, reverberated across the Andhra University Assembly Hall. All eyes were glued to the speaker as he began in his deep voice, "Andhra University is one of the best universities in the world and has a bundle of great talents." "In fact," he continued, "many of our faculty members are graduates of Andhra University."

In rapt attention

With stars in their eyes and a dream to study abroad, the students listened intently to the hour-long lecture that opened before them a sea of options to pursue further studies in Alcorn State University (ASU). They weren't reliving memories of the mid-Eighties when seeking the American dream meant standing overnight outside the U.S. Embassy but they were looking for a dream of a different sort. Dr. Clinton explained about the research programmes and said, "If you wish to become a global leader and have the zeal and determination in you, this collaboration will offer you a lot of scope to explore your areas of interest." He fielded a volley of questions clearing the zillion doubts hovering over the young minds about scholarships, job prospects and visas. A 100 per cent scholarship is being offered by ASU to the candidates who are selected on the basis of their grades, faculty recommendations and marks obtained in common entrances. "We don't want to take away India's talent, we just want to train them and give them greater exposure so that they can come back to India to work in multi-national companies," he added.