Although for Mother Nature spring is the time of new growth and renewal, for CVIP it is fall that brings us to life. With the arrival of all the new MSU international students and in many cases, their families, as well as the remaining students, our committees are up and running. We are especially pleased that our Friendship Family Committee is showing renewed vigor under the able leadership of Iris Horner. Having a Friendship Family will certainly help many new international students feel more at home here in mid Michigan. For news of our other committees, please keep reading!

People come and people go, and it was with some degree of sadness that we bid goodbye to our past president and colleague, Marcia Mittwede. She is now sharing her many talents with the international community in St. Louis, MO. Taking her place at Friendship House is a new friend to CVIP, Watts Rozell. We look forward to his future participation in CVIP.

In addition, we are pleased to welcome Terry Walsh under our CVIP umbrella. (Please see Terry's introduction on page 5.) Terry has just been hired by the MSU Office for International Students and Scholars. He will be working closely with us on our mission to increase cross-cultural understanding and goodwill between the MSU international community and the greater Lansing community.

As you may already know, in recent years CVIP has faced an ongoing struggle with declining numbers of volunteers and lack of community awareness of who we are. With that in mind, last year a committee was formed of Lansing area community leaders who are not directly involved with existing CVIP programs. This Visioning Committee is chaired by Frank Fear and has already been instrumental in helping us rethink how we can best accomplish our mission. I would personally like to thank the members of this committee for their time and insights. Please read Frank Fear's remarks on page 4.

With the Global Festival 2005 just around the corner on November 13, won't you join us in celebrating our wonderful international community? They bring their culture and customs and an eagerness to share with us as well as learn from us. Did you know that when a Korean child loses a lower baby tooth, it is not left under the pillow for the tooth fairy but is thrown over the house in hopes that the new tooth will grow upwards straight and strong?

Dottie Schmidt, CVIP President