By Angie Smith
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

If the lively music or colorful booths and costumes did not catch spectators' attention, the aroma of savory food led them to Atrium II for World Unity Day, Oct. 30.

Those who attended the festival sampled delicious cultural favorites such as Turkish cabbage rolls, a South African milk tart and an assortment of delicacies from 14 other countries.

"Our main mission for this event was to promote intercultural awareness and communication among all groups at UHCL including students, faculty and staff," said Lisa James, president of the International Student Organization.

As visitors leisurely wandered from booth to booth, both their minds and stomachs expanded. Each representative told of his or her country's natural resources, population, religion and sights to see. Booths displayed art, books, photographs, traditional costumes and jewelry. Many representatives anxiously awaited visitors' expressions while tasting their cultural foods.

"It's interesting and a little strange," said Ngoc-Lan Pham, a Vietnamese management information systems student. "This is the first time I tasted a Russian dessert."

"It's exciting to see strong representation from Bangladesh and Turkey," said Jerry Rhodeback, executive director for international initiatives. "There are 670 international students. Almost 9 percent of enrollment is representative of 60 countries. Twelve years ago we had less than 150 international students."

Many UH-Clear Lake faculty and staff also attended the event.

"I'm very interested in international activities," said Nick de Vries, art professor. "I support the international program here at UHCL. Currently, we have exchange students from Slovakia and Mexico."

"This is my first World Unity Day," said Karen Wielhorski, executive director of the Neuman Library. "I have been here as the new library director since March. I came to see what interesting things the students had to show us."

"I liked the guy with the red shirt," said Jack Leary, who was accompanied by his mother, Betty Leary and brother, Brendan. Leary was referring to Vladimir Neshchadimov, who was wearing a bright red shirt embroidered at the collar, black pants and a traditional Russian sash around the waist for the event.

Betty Leary, a local resident, said her reason for coming to World Unity Day was to expose her children to different cultures while they are young.

"I thought they would enjoy the music, costumes and different foods," she said.

"My favorite booth was Mexico because the food was excellent," said Irene Iturburo, psychology graduate student. "Miguel Orozco told me how to make the bread and, coincidentally, I found out that I know his sister from Mexico."

Fourteen judges made up of faculty and staff had a hard time deciding the best booth. Judges rated the booths for overall creativity, presentation and World Unity theme.
Columbia won first place, Bangladesh won second place and Turkey won third place.

The silent auction raised approximately $300 and UH-Clear Lake student Bill Jaeggi won the raffle prize, a golf package for four, dinner and a hotel stay in Galveston, donated by the Legal Studies Association.

From top to bottom: A collection of flags on display at World Unity Day, statue of Saraswati-Goddess of Learning at the Indian booth, Natalia Hendricks holds a 150-year-old plaque from a Russian Orthodox Church, Jack Leary liked touching the exhibits, Jesus plaque from the Moscow booth, Fanny Montan dances to Salsa music and the Kenyan booth depicts a woman carrying goods to sell at the market.
photos by Angie Smith

"We would like to give a special 'thank you' to the Legal Studies Association for the raffle prize package and to the Indian Student Association for providing us with overwhelming support and a bulk of the volunteers," James said.

Though the turnout was even better than last year, some students did not know about the event or were disappointed that their country was not represented.

"I'm a little upset China was not represented," said Jauping Chen, a management information systems graduate student, as she watched over the event from the second floor. "But just having the event is pretty cool."

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