HOT NEWS

Bank of America

If you opened an account with Bank of America and want to go to the bank to deposit money, come to our office tomorrow, Wednesday. We will be taking students at 10am and at 2pm. Bank of America will be on our campus again this Friday, from 9am to 2pm in front of the Cafeteria if you haven't opened an account yet.

Hiking Trip to Forest Falls!

We will be taking a trip to Forest Falls this Saturday, September 27 after lunch. We will be leaving LSU right at 1pm and will be returning just in time for dinner. We have 15 spots, so if you want to go, come sign up in our office. Space is limited!

HAPPENINGS

Perspectives Pictures

Take your Perspectives picture in the Student Center, tomorrow, Wednesday. The Perspectives is our school directory.

OISS Ice Breaker

Starting next Wednesday, come to our office in the morning from 8:30 to 10am for coffee, tea, and to talk with your fellow international students!

From the OISS

Welcome to La Sierra University!
We are thrilled that you have decided to come to La Sierra University to pursue your academic goals. If you are a new student, welcome to the USA and La Sierra! If you are returning student, welcome back; we missed you during the summer!

This school year promises to be an excellent year for all of our international students. We have planned several activities for you and we are eager to get started and involve you in our campus.

Some of our new international students at the orientation!
If you want to see some pictures from this year's international student orientation,
click here!

Our Office Is YOUR Office
If you need to use a computer to call your home via Skype or if you need to print a paper for class, come to our office. We are here to help you!

International Student Club
We are starting an international student club. Fellow international student Ryan Wiggan is our president and he will be organizing several activities as well as appointing the officers. Please stay tuned for more information on this amazing opportunity!

A BIG Thank You!
The OISS would like to give a BIG THANK YOU to all the departments and individuals who made our new international orientation a success! Jill Rasmussen, Lyneth Solis and the C-SAS team; David Lofthouse and the entire Recruitment Office; Yami Bazan and the Student Life Division; Ken Kahn and the Cafeteria staff; Ivy Tejeda and the Admissions & Records crew; Dr. Singh and the ESL Department; and the many others Thank you!

Immigration Updates

DV (Green Card) Lottery Starts October 2, 2008
Each year, the U.S. government hosts a Diversity Visa Lottery, a program in which 50,000 people from around the world can apply to get a green card to live in the USA. This year's DV lottery starts on October 2 and ends on December 1, 2008. This is a FREE program, so do not pay anyone to apply for this program! If you want to apply, come to our office; we will help you for free. For more information, visit the official web site at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/.
NOTE: not all countries qualify for this program.

OPT Regulatory Update
Several things have changed in OPT since our last newsletter. The most important change in regulations is that now students have just 90 days (calendar days) of unemployment. You MUST report your employer to us so we can report it to the government. If you do not report your current employer, then the system will start to count your time as unemployed, and after 90 days, it will terminate your I-20.

You can report your employers to us via an internet form located at http://www.lasierra.edu/international/opt/

There is also new regulations regarding employment as H-1B and CAP-GAP provisions.

Campus Updates

Insurance Cards
New students will need to print their insurance cards soon. We will have your new certificate numbers ready by October 1st, so please contact our office to receive it. Instructions on how to print your new medical insurance card are available on our web site: www.lasierra.edu/international/.

Student-Wide E-Mails
Each week, the Office of Student Life sends a student-wide email with all the happenings and announcements related to La Sierra University. If you haven't seen the email in your Inbox, make sure to add sw@lasierra.edu to your safe list. You can read the weekly emails here:
http://www.lasierra.edu/sw/

INTERNET WARNING
Even though this is not a campus update, we want to make sure you are aware of many possible problems you may encounter in the internet. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, be very careful on the internet. DO NOT give your social security number to anyone. DO NOT provide banking information to anyone you do not know. DO NOT click on any links in emails that require you to put your password; those are phishing/spoofing emails (trying to steal your information). DO NOT purchase anything from a web site that has a "great deal." If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably it isn't! DO NOT use ebay.com at all! Remember, identity theft is a big problem in the USA and the internet is one of the fastest way to get yourself in trouble. Be extremely careful when purchasing items online and always LOG OFF your accounts if you are using a public or shared computer. You can read more about internet safety here: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/shopping/shopping-tips/webshopping-safety-506-privacy-security/overview/

If you have questions or need help, please come talk to us!