I am an international student who has been in the United States for the past year. There are so many things about this country that make me wonder about the years and efforts that have gone into making this beautiful land, where the best of everything exists. A habitat where there is no corruption or discrimination and opportunity comes by to an individual based on abilities, not his political affiliations or background. A rainbow of cultures from around the world exists here, which in my opinion, is unique to this world.

Sept. 11 was an unfortunate event that has left an unforgettable mark in our minds and has caused the heart of every American to cry. Coming to this country at such a time was hard on foreigners like me. I did not have the best of welcomes here. I was verbally abused on more than one occasion and would have been physically assaulted had a good Samaritan not come to my rescue. I did not think about reporting these incidents or taking any action because I felt those assailants were just people who were hurt by what had happened to their fellow Americans.

Still, a year later I read an article in the Daily (“University police investigate assault, role of bias,” Sept. 24) in which a person was abused for looking different. Events of the past cannot be erased, but is it justifiable to continue abusing people in this country for being born with a different color and looking foreign? Wouldn’t it be against the very ideals of this country that is trying to fight a war for the people of this world, if some one is abused here just for being born different? I am thankful to this country for giving me the opportunity to come and study here and only hope the people will change the way they look at foreigners before someone is killed.