http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/07/08/short_abroad_study_popular.aspx
This article is from the student newspaper at Penn State. It is relevant to the culture beat because one of the sources discusses the connection between studying abroad and developing an appreciation for cultural awareness and acceptance. More important to my beat, the article presents a new trend in college study abroad programs; the increase in students opting for short-term programs, as opposed to the typical year-long programs. One of the reasons for this trend is a decrease in the overall cost.

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/top-stories/chinese-student-patriotism-in-u-s-1.1773895
This article is from The Daily Texan, the University of Texas at Austin newspaper. The article states that the U.S. is the top destination for Chinese students choosing to study abroad. Furthermore, upon graduation, an increasing number of Chinese students are staying in the States instead of returning home. This leads me to wonder if the same trend is present in WSU's foreign students population and if they stay in the Pullman/Washington region? And if they do what might that be doing for our local economy, etc.?