'U' Extension Service Helps 700 Be Citizens

'U' Extension Helps 700 Be Citizens

More than 700 persons have become United States citizens in the last five years after preparation with a correspondence study course offered by the University’s Extension Service.

The course, which includes a simplified edition of the Constitution, lessons on local, state and national government, and a workbook, is offered in cooperation with the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Many of the students have been housewives who married American servicemen stationed abroad. They have come from Japan, Germany, Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia.

Another large group of the new citizens was drawn from Canada. Some of the older persons, for example people from Slavic countries such as Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary, often are assisted by their own children or grandchildren.

The desire for citizenship crosses occupational lines. Enrolled at present are two physicians. Others who have taken the course are engineers, steam fitters, tool and die makers, cooks, nurses, teachers, caretakers and many others. Successful students receive a certificate.

All of them have one thing in common-foreign birth. And most of them rely on correspondence study because they cannot attend a regular class in citizenship.

The correspondence course, which requires a fee of $5, is not a guarantee of citizenship. But the material is designed by the Justice Department to prepare students for the naturalization exam.