to all Indians

[amitshah]

Welcome to Ross. We have an Indian Student Association on the island and we are going to hold Garba and Dandia for Navratri. So please bring your Indian costumes along with some music and celebrate this great holiday with us. Hope to see everyone there.

Amit

[gastroenterologist]

Hey Amit,

It's pretty cool that we have an Indian Student Association now. Though I am not coming this year, I hope to see the association grow by next year. We should celebrate all other holidays at Ross also (e.g., Independence Day, Lohri, Janamashtmi, etc.). Nice to talk to you. Take Care.

GI :wink:

[Cuando2]

hmm, so the indians student association only prefers indians at their gatherings? i thought it would at least be, "open to all."

[VanessaWI]

Pretty much anyone can go to any of the student organization get-togethers. I think he was extending the invite to people of Indian origin so they knew to bring the music and clothes with them. There is a lot of cross-over in who belongs to what organization here. (i.e. You don't have to be Latin American to be a member of the Organization for Latin American Students-OLAS) It's not a bad idea to go to other organization's meetings because then it'll make it easier for you to be culturally sensitive to your pts. later on.
cheers,
Vanessa

[carib]

RUSM only celebrates Dominican national holidays, some of which are not the same as US holidays, which means you will be in school on July 4, Thanksgiving, and some other days but will be off for "Boxing Day" and Carnival.

-carib

P.S.- I pray that everyone including the indian people would leave off polytheism and affirm only One Almighty God worthy to be worshipped.

[VanessaWI]

Carib,
You are correct in that the traditional U.S. holidays are not celebrated, but there's usually no school on Dominican holidays. My guess is that they do this because there's a lot of Dominican employees.
I just thought I would comment on your afterthought of your last post-

P.S.- I pray that everyone including the indian people would leave off polytheism and affirm only One Almighty God worthy to be worshipped.
It's important for you not to assume that "the indian people" are all polytheistic. (A number are also Muslim and Christian.) It should go without saying that you've got to keep an open mind about other culture, esp. in medicine as well as in med school. I'm not trying to sound critical, but trying to save you from the embarassment of deciding another's beliefs aren't right for them-but you can certainly pray for the indians, if you'd like.
Sorry to get politically correct with you, but tis the nature of medicine.
Vanessa

[Mo716]

P.S.- I pray that everyone including the indian people would leave off polytheism and affirm only One Almighty God worthy to be worshipped.[/quote]

I'm assuming that Carib's comment is directed toward Hindus, not really Indian people. Carib, just because you don't believe in something doesn't make it wrong. Secondly, you're free to pray whichever way you want, but don't bad-mouth someone else's faith. That's just not cool. Lastly, Hindus are not polytheistic. Christians believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Does that make Christianity polytheistic? Most Christians have an explanation as to why this monotheistic. Hindus do, too.

[Shah_Patel_PT]

Hey Amit,

It's pretty cool that we have an Indian Student Association now. Though I am not coming this year, I hope to see the association grow by next year. We should celebrate all other holidays at Ross also (e.g., Independence Day, Lohri, Janamashtmi, etc.). Nice to talk to you. Take Care.

GI :wink:

More info can be found here:
http://www.msu.edu/~shahatma/isa0.html

[ravaldo]

You mentioned a latin organization, could you tell me more about it and what they do

[VanessaWI]

Hey Ravaldo,
You aked about OLAS, but I'll post it for everyone-
As far as I know OLAS offers several programs:
Salsa class
they teach some of the non-spanish speaking students medically relavent phrases
tennis tournament
hmmm...I'm not actually I member-but I do know it's a really active organization here. Usually most student groups offers some type of tutoring or scholastic help from student to student as well. I know the Black Students Assoc. does this, but I'm not sure if OLAS does or not.
Hope this helps.
cheers,
vanessa

[Texan2]

Hey Vanessa and Hola Ravaldo,

In addition to what Vanessa described, OLAS (Organization of Latin American Students) serves the Ross community by educating students concerning Latin American heritage and culture. OLAS is an interesting organization that has evolved since its beginning several semesters ago. From Salsa classes to Spanish classes to social gatherings OLAS provides a Latino flavor that can't be beat! (Yes, and OLAS does have resources available for students like the other organizations.)

As Vanessa pointed out, you don't have to be Latino to join and as evidenced by the leadership of an unnamed non-Latin American a few semesters ago. I think you will find that the Ross community as a whole is quite diverse. I encourage you to take advantage of the many different cultures and backgrounds that you will encounter here at Ross which will prepare you for the many different patients that you will treat in the future.