The world after Sept. 11 is full of contradictions. Those living in the U.S. want to feel safe again and are looking to government leaders to design policies that will allow them to go through life with a sense of security.

On the other hand, many such policies are teetering on a fine line between legality and a Constitutional disaster.

The trick for lawmakers will be to balance the need to keep our country safe against the danger of taking away our inhabitants' rights. The latest policy regarding foreign-student visas seems to maintain this equilibrium correctly.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have devised a bill that would require colleges to report when a student was expected to enter the country and notify the State Department if that student did not show up within 30 days after the deadline to register for classes. The strictest controls would be on students from seven countries on a list of countries that the State Department considers sponsors of terrorism.

The bill has yet to be voted on and the INS database will be in effect in 2003.

Higher education lobbyists applauded the bill because they said it strengthens the foreign-student visa system without impinging on the rights of foreign students who do not pose a risk. Let's hope that this is the case. It is good to know that the government is stopping the leaks in the system, so that another terrorist attack can possibly be averted and lives can be saved.

It can make one queasy, however, to think that these kinds of policies can drift into the kind with "Big Brother-esque" qualities.

The previous draft of the Judiciary Committee bill did not allow "flexibility" for students from countries suspected to sponsor terrorists. Only after lobbyists and concerned citizens expressed their aversion to such a rigid policy did the member of the committee design a compromise.

It is imperative that our country maintains openness to foreign students. These students enrich our higher education system and should not be subjected to unnecessary scrutiny. We need to demand policies that do not advocate excessive controls, but that siphon out those who wish to do us harm.

The government appears to have struck a good balance with the foreign-student visa bill —this time.