Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 30, 1991 TAG: 9103290057
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERTA GREEN/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Sponsored by the Council of International Student Organizations and planned by the 24 groups representing the international community, the event will include speakers, film, games, food, music and fashion.
"Historically, the week has begun with the festive and colorful street fair, and this year will, too," said Darlene Grega, assistant director of the Cranwell International Center.
The fair is Saturday on College Avenue in downtown Blacksburg with over 20 countries represented with food, cultural artifacts and information, native dress, music and flags decorating the streets, she said.
A Global Games event will be held 1-4 p.m. next Sunday on the Tech Drill Field. Games typical of different regions of the world will be played - everything from the better-known games such as cricket and soccer to the lesser-known games such as the Japanese game of akido.
Saturday and next Sunday evenings will offer international artistic and cultural events. The Greek film "Landscape in the Mist" will be shown Saturday night. The Chinese Music Ensemble will perform Sunday night.
Daily events during the week will begin with luncheons under the big tent at the Cranwell Center. The food will be provided by clubs representing French, Indonesian and Malaysian, Oriental, Nordic and African cultures.
Following the luncheons, lectures and discussions will be held at the center, focusing on such topics as humor and art from around the world, traditional healing and Argentinian politics.
Evening events will include a fashion show, a talent show, a featured speaker and a demonstration of developments at Tech's Food and Nutrition Department that will help combat world hunger.
Richard Barnet, this year's featured speaker, will lecture Wednesday (April 10) at 8 p.m. on "The New World Order: What Does It Mean?" Barnet is a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, a think-tank in Washington.
"We particularly wanted the featured speaker to speak on something besides the Middle East," Grega said.
"In some ways the problems there have made it tougher to get International Week together this year," she said. "For instance, some have chosen not to participate in the street fair in fear of offending people. Others feel it is even more important to be there, to teach Americans about the diversity in every country.
"Everyone on our campus talks about the importance of diversity, and the American population as a whole is ethnically and racially diverse," Grega said. "At Tech we have a very visible international community which allows us to learn more about our world and ourselves."
Times and locations of specific events will appear in the Current Calendar. For more information call the Cranwell International Center at 231-6567.
by CNB