the other day i was talking with one of my students about the situation in the states and she mentioned some interesting things.

one of these things was that the price of a visa to the states has gone up. it used to be around 40 u.s. dollars, but now it's well over a 100 u.s. dollars. i suspect if they deny your visa you will still be out the money. her company will be attending a conference in hawaii soon. she said the travel agent handling the visas told the company if there was anyone under 30 attending they might consider getting a group visa instead of an individual visa. she said she had a client recently who is 23 and he was to attend some sort of conference and the visa office denied him on the grounds he was too young! 23 is too young to attend a conference?! apparently that won't be as noticeable if you are part of a group, but if you are denied an individual visa you won't be able to apply for the group visa.

my student then went on to say how she used to think the u.s. were the good guys, but she certainly doesn't feel that way anymore, especially with the way the u.s. is insisting on a war with iraq, and the way it's treating both foriengers and its citizens within its borders these days.