More than one hundred thousand international studentswill spend this summer working and traveling in the United States.They are participating in the Summer Work Travel programthrough the State Department.They receive J-1 exchange visitor visas.The idea is for students to work for up to three monthsand earn enough money to then spend a month travelingbefore they return home.The Exchange Visitor Program, aims to increase global understanding through educational and cultural exchanges.The Summer Work Travel program has existed for years.This year there are some changes.The State Department recently amended the employment rules.These changes follow a strike last summerby foreign students working at a distribution centerfor Hershey's chocolates.The State Department said the studentswere put to work for long hours in jobsthat provided little or no contact with the outside world.The students complained about havingto lift heavy boxes and to work overnight.They and other workers protested conditionsat the plant in Palmyra, Pennsylvania.The students also complained about being underpaidas a result of deductions from their earnings.Some of their pay had to go to subcontractorsinvolved in the operations.The State Department has now bannedthe use of Summer Work Travel studentsin warehouses or packaging plants.Also, the majority of their work hours cannot fallbetween ten at night and six in the morning.More jobs will be banned in the fall.These include most construction,manufacturing and food processing jobs.Summer Work Travel students will also not be allowedto work in most mining and agricultural jobs.Daniel Costa at the Economic Policy Institute in Washingtonwelcomed the new limits on jobs that the students can fill.DANIEL COSTA: "That is good because it will protectthe actual foreign workers from getting injured on the job.It also protects U.S. workers,because there is high unemploymentin a lot of those occupations."He also praised a requirementthat employers only fill temporary or seasonal jobswith Summer Work Travel students.He noted that some employers have continuallyhired new student workers to avoid having to hire regular full-time employees.Jacob Horwitz is lead organizerfor the National Guestworker Alliance,the group that organized the strike in Palmyra.JACOB HORWITZ: "The changes to the J-1 rulesreally recognize the demands that the students put forward,and both add a whole set of protections and changesthat protect local workers who work in industriesthat use guest workers and also protect future J-1 students."He says the State Department's changeswill help return the program to its original purposeas a cultural exchange program.And that's the VOA Special English Education Report,written by Jerilyn Watson.