This morning my husband woke me up on the phone asking me to check online for when his university would reopen. You see, 2:30 A.M. today a depressed graduate international student snapped under school pressure, threatened the university and claimed to have a bomb and anthrax. By the end of the day, it only turned out to be a bluff and powdered sugar. Video conference of this whole ordeal. Rana told me the helicopters were flying around all morning which woke him up. He briefly saw the news about a university bomb threat in Missouri. But he didn't realize it was his university until he reached his office and couldn't get in because of the police barricade, ambulances, and decontamination tents. Classes were canceled for the morning, and Rana was eager for classes to resume. This is typical of my husband. "How inconsiderate of that guy" as he was referring to the supposed bomber, “doesn’t he know there are people out there who need to take a test today?” to which he was referring to himself. On the way home from the university, Rana was interviewed by local news reporters regarding the fact that the bomb threat was made by an international student. His interview was aired on the news later that evening. He was so excited about this; he stayed in his studio apartment and scanned through the local news channel until he saw his interview. I listened to the news with Rana via the phone through Simone’s Bluetooth and speakers as I was driving home from the museum. “It’s me, It’s me!” he excitedly exclaimed. And he placed his phone next to his television speaker. The evening news host was getting the views and opinions of nearby students about today’s incident. A student who lived across the street from the university described the scene of yellow tape, flashing cop cars, helicopters overhead, and decontamination tent facilities, as surreal. Rana was asked, on Ky3 Springfield, on the topic of pressures on international students. being that he is one himself. Rana stated that everyone can get depressed whether international student or not. It’s just unfortunate that this international student choose to act at this time. He was referring to the bad rap on internationals in post 9/11. I was very proud and excited for Rana. His sounded sophisticated and his English improved by leaps and bounds since the first time we met, and he showcased his English skills during his five seconds of fame.

Come to think of it, more than five seconds of fame. Just about one or two weeks into his first semester Rana was interviewed about GuruLib by a local affiliate radio station of NPR (National Public Radio), KMUR. Hear Podcast of Rana’s Interview on KMUR. The interview featured two Rolla students and their projects in the internet era. “It just seemed that Rana is destined to be in the spot light” I said jokingly. Need another proof? During Rana’s undergraduate years in Karala, India, a protest group gathered on campus. Out of curiosity, Rana walked up to the group to investigate and unknown to him a reporter took a snap of him. The next day the newspaper featured the protest story and right there on the front page is the picture of Rana standing in front of the protesters. I thought it was cute how Rana innocently became a representative of a cause he knew nothing about. Leave it to Rana to consistently stumble into the public spotlight.