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Philippines here?”
    “I have been here only three years,” Christine
said, “but I am not aware of any.” She paused. “Just a moment,” she said. “I
have a list of the forty-nine countries that our students come from.” She
shuffled her papers. “Here it is,” she said. “No. Nobody else from the
Philippines.” She looked up at me, pleased. It seemed important to her that she
could answer all my questions efficiently.
    “That’s interesting,” I said. “Do you do any
special recruiting—you know, any people on the ground in the Philippines?”
    “No,” Christine said. “We do not recruit outside
the country at all, except in five provinces in Canada. There are no resources
for that. However, our Web site contains ample information, and we are listed
with the various agencies around the world that showcase U.S. universities. She
would have no trouble finding us if she were looking.”
    “What can you tell us about her life here at CMSU?”
I said.
    “The International Students Association holds a
series of orientation sessions for our new students,” Christine said, this time
without looking at her papers, “but the records indicate that she did not
attend any of them.”
    Ryan said, “Is that unusual?”
    “Ninety-six percent of the international students
attend at least one of our sessions in the first semester. Most of these students
are excited to be here, but it can be such a stressful experience for them—the
culture, the language, the university system, even the weather—that most of
them are eager to participate in any kind of activities we offer. And they form
peer groups with the other international students.”
    I said, “I guess they hang out with other kids
from their own culture?”
    “Our experience has been that if they come here as
a group from a very different culture with a significantly different language
system, such as the Asian students, they can have a hard time connecting with our
native students, or even with the other international students. These students
have high intra-group cohesion.”
    I glanced at Ryan, who nodded to signal that
Christine Hardtke had just said yes.
    “How about friends?”
    Christine said, “Part of the program for
international students is Big Brothers and Big Sisters. We pair each of the
students with a same-sex volunteer from the native-born cohort.” She flipped
through the pages in her file. “Maricel’s Big Sister was Amber Cunningham.”
    I said, “Do you know if they were friends?”
    “We send emails to our students periodically to
ask them about the process of acclimation, but we have no record of Maricel’s
having responded.”
    I sighed. “Have either of you received any reports
of conflict between Maricel and other students, either international or regular?”
    I looked at Mary Dawson, who was focused on her
screen. She clicked her mouse a couple of times, then shook her head.
    Christine Hardtke said, “No, nothing of that sort.”
    Ryan said, “Do you know what her English skills
were?”
    Christine shifted in her chair, her pendant moving
across her chest. “Yes, all international students, even from Canada, are
required to take the TOEFL test.” She looked down at her folder. “She scored
112 on the Internet version of the test, which is native English fluency. English
is one of the several official languages of the Philippines. Anyone from the
Philippines who is attending post-secondary schooling—there or anywhere else in
the world—would have no problems with English.”
    I said, “How was she doing in her courses?”
    Christine shook her head. “The university has this
program for all students called Early Warning. In week six of the semester, if
the student is in danger of failing the course, she or he is notified and provided
suggestions on how to contact the instructor, as well as some other resources
on campus to help them improve their academic performance. This program has
been very successful with