Welcome to the 117th issue!

The 2008 InternationalStudent.com Travel Video Contest has closed, and this month we ask for you to help our judges in choosing a winner. Also International Education Week is November 17-21, so we share a few of the ways to get involved and celebrate.

Of course the end of Fall Semester is also right around the corner, as are the holidays and travel - time flies!

Ross Mason

Editor, InternationalStudent.com

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The 2008 Travel Video Contest has closed, and as expected, we've got dozens of wonderful entries! We can't put them all online, so we have watched them all and made an initial cut, leaving only the finalists. You can see all the finalist videos on our contest page.

Which one will win the grand prize of $3,000? Last year we received several great videos, but we had a fairly easy time picking the winner, because Shani Gur's film "to Papa" stood out above the rest. This year we may not have it so easy, as we've got several contenders for top honors.

We also have runner-up prizes to award. Please help our judges by watching the finalists' videos. After you've seen them all, rank them and let us know which one should win the top prize.

http://www.internationalstudent.com/contest/

Our "fun site of the month" is an online physics puzzle game that will keep you entertained for hours. The idea behind Fantastic Contraption is to use the materials given to you to transport a ball from point A to point B. You need to use your imagination, and maybe some basic physics to judge how your contraptions will react and move the balls - so have fun creating!

To waste hours of time doing something that's a lot of fun, take a trip to the Fantastic Contraption website:

http://fantasticcontraption.com/

Over the past few months, the problem of bogus colleges in the UK has received a lot of media attention, along with proposals and rules designed to address the problem without stifling legitimate educational needs. International students have been targetted by these bogus colleges.

This month we highlight two stories, both related to the bogus college scandal. Last week, the British Home Office announced the new Australian-style points-based system for international students in the UK, known as Tier 4 under Home Office rules. Under the new system for UK student visas, all universities and colleges wanting to educate nationals from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) will need a licence to do so. Read more about the new scheme in yesterday's post in the International Financial Aid Blog.

Also, the Herald included an editorial yesterday, addressing the difference in protection afforded the word "College" versus "University" in Scotland. The Association of Scotland's Colleges wants the word "College" to have the same degree of protection as "University", thus making it much more difficult for bogus "Colleges" to come into being and attract international students. Read the editorial here.

With the holidays and semseter break right around the corner, it's time to plan your travel if you haven't already. The Student Travel Center on InternationalStudent.com has all the tools you need to get great deals on student travel. Here are some of our Travel Center features:

Discounted Student Airfare - for students and faculty, book and purchase airfare at discounted student rates using our airline booking engine. Flight costs are high this year, so remember, be flexible with your travel plans (for instance, fly on off-days if you can - tuesdays, thursdays, and holidays).

 

Student Youth Hostels - with the markets taking a downturn, we all need to save some pennies - student hostels can be a great way to save, offering cheap accomodation throughout the world with rooms or dormitory accomodation.

 

Travel Health Insurance - you should never travel the world today without some form of international travel insurance to protect you in case something happens. We can offer an affordable and comprehensive solution that will not break the bank!

 

International Phone Card - if you plan to travel, stay in touch with your loved ones with an international phone card to lower the cost of your international calls.

You will find all of these services, and much more, at the Student Travel Center - please visit for all your travel needs

With a database of more than 10,000 schools teaching 88 languages in 115 countries, “The Language Course Finder” features a language course search engine with an extensive range of search criteria. An essential skill in today’s world, the English language is the key to international business. English is also a language of leisure and one that often unites people from different countries. When it comes to destinations, you can find English language schools in a wide range of English-speaking countries across the world.

To find the right English course, “The Language Course Finder” offers you the opportunity to search for language courses according to your personal criteria (e.g., location, course type, group size, accommodation, supplementary activities…)

Click here to find your English course now and go international

https://www.internationalstudent.com/learn-english/search/