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Foreign
Intrigue
Many foreign students come to MSU every year through exchange programs hoping to learn something about the American culture and, perhaps, to enrich themselves. This is the case with exchange student Olena Aydarova, a senior in the education department. Aydarova is from Odessa, Ukraine, near the Black Sea in the former Soviet Union. Ayadarova came here through the exchange program of the Freedom Support Act. She said the program, utilized in 13 countries mostly from the former USSR, is aimed at helping students develop cultural and social skills to aid them in developing democratic concepts in their home countries. Aydarova said the program has many benefits for international students. “We are immersed in the culture and we are exposed to it,” she said. Aydarova said the program lasts for one year, with emphasis in the first semester on community service and an internship in the second semester. She said the one year of exposure is long enough for students to see both the good and bad aspects of American culture. Students can choose what they want to adapt into their own lives and possibly bring back to their home countries. The program is quite selective. “In my city there were about 1,000 people who applied,” she said, “and only about three were accepted.” Among the differences Aydarova has noticed between the citizens of her native Ukraine and the people of Texas is the way they handle the truth. She said she noticed people here tend to hold their tongues when they don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings. In Ukraine and Russia, people don’t tend to do that, she said. “We have a saying in my country,” she said “‘It’s better to tell a bitter truth than a sweet lie.’” She said her people are straightforward and expect others to take their advice. To some Texans, this makes her seem blunt. This difference in attitudes and cultures–along with the fact that this was Aydarova’s first time abroad–made her feel very isolated when she first came to MSU. “The first couple of months were really hard,” she confessed. She also noticed a difference in the way people treat friendships here. She said in her country friendships come first–even before family, work and spouses, in some cases. After the third or fourth month here, Aydarova said she began to make friends among the international students. “A lot of international students think that people from Texas are close-minded,” she said. “Most often international students group together.” She said she has just started getting adjusted this semester and making friends among the American students. She said many of the American students ask questions to be nice, but they are sometimes superficial questions. Aydarova said the education system is very different in her native Ukraine. “In our colleges we don’t have a notion of choosing classes,” she said. “Classes are mandatory.” She said education is much more valued in Russia and the Ukraine. Schools start on Sept. 1, which is considered a national holiday in honor of education. Students often give flowers to their teachers on this day. Many male students also try to get into college because of the mandatory army service, she said. She said students are placed in groups of about 10 with the same major and they stay in those groups for five or six years. This helps the students to learn to deal with conflicts between one another, she said. Often, these students become friends for life. Aydarova said classes usually run from 8 a.m. to 1 or 3 p.m. Students have different classes every day, so they take 15 to 17 classes a semester. She said the first year is usually general knowledge courses, and students study more specific courses as they progress. She said living and growing up during the period when communism still existed in Ukraine has helped her notice some positive changes in Russia and former Soviet countries like the Ukraine. However, she also notices a lot of negative changes. “I grew up knowing that my education was free,” she said “My healthcare was free. There was a good transportation system and it was free.” She said work was also provided for everyone. Employers were required to provide living quarters. “What people think about the Soviet Union isn’t exactly true,” she said. She also said many of the former Soviet states are in chaos because many of the same people who were rulers under communism are now ruling under what they claim to be democracy. In the past, these rulers were held accountable to a central government, but now they are not, she said. She said this has resulted in a lot of poverty and crime and that many elderly people miss the days of communist rule. “They have their own freedoms,” she said, “but that doesn’t make them feel much better.”
It’s time for a coffee break! Don’t have time to just sit and drink coffee? Need to finish up that English paper or complete some research on the Internet? Well, then it’s still time for a coffee break! Take your work to Brook St.Com, the first-ever Internet café in Wichita Falls. Brook St.Com, which opened at 3201 Lawrence Rd. across from Wal-Mart just two months ago, is equipped with six flat-screen P4 processors loaded with XP packages, direct TV and Super DSL connections. Not looking for a new work-zone, though? Brook St.Com also has Direct TV and Playstation 2 for those who want to play. You can still use the computers for fun, too, if you want to burn CD’s and DVD’s, or if you just want to check your e-mail. While you work and play, feed your body its fuel for energy with a sandwich, some cookies or a muffin, along with some freshly brewed coffee or espresso. Mocha cappuccino anyone? Brook St.Com makes gourmet coffee, too! Owners Robert and Toni Smith, who also own Brook St. Day Spa, originally thought a restaurant would be ideal next to the spa, but things changed on a drive to San Angelo. “All of a sudden a commercial came on about an Internet café, and the light bulb lit up in Robert’s head,” Toni said. “That was the beginning of Brook St.Com.” Because Brook St.Com is the first of its kind, the Smith’s plan on building it to suit its customers’ needs. “This is a really laid back environment, and it’s like being at home in your own little room,” employee Donnie Palmer said. “It’s not only a good getaway from the dorms, but it’s a good, relaxing place to get away from your everyday environment.” Monthly memberships are available for $45, which includes unlimited access to the computers, televisions and Playstation 2. Not interested in a month-long commitment? Well, for $2 you can purchase 15 minutes of unlimited usage, or you can get an hours worth for $7.50. If you don’t want to use the computers, you don’t have to pay a fee. “Most people right now are paying by the hour, but it’s getting kick-started so monthly memberships are on the rise,” Palmer said. The Smiths hope poetry readings and gaming tournaments become a norm at the café, too. “We have the capability to hold such events, but we just need people to know that the possibility exists,” Toni Smith said. The café is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is closed on Sundays. “We hope to increase our hours as popularity increases,” Toni Smith said. “It’s a safe place to hang out, and as our foot traffic increases, we’ll probably extend our hours to midnight.”
Business_______________________________continued from Main the fitness center on campus. Senior project manager, Richard H. Bundy, AIA (American Institute of Architects), has not formally drawn up plans for the new building but does have several “conceptual opinions” relative to the campus. “This building should be a compliment to the architecture of MSU in detail,” Bundy said. Harvey is expecting a building of 75,000 square feet (with a footprint of 25,000 square feet), and Rogers projects the cost between $10 million and $12 million. “It would be the largest building for college use on campus,” Bundy said. With the dimensions that all parties are looking at, the building could reasonably be three stories, according to Bundy. “Any taller and it could impact the neighborhoods around the site and we don’t want to compete with the hierarchy of buildings on campus,” Bundy said. The Business Administration College has reasons for wanting a building that size on campus. They are the most crowded. “I quite literally have the office of a faculty member in what used to be a closet,” said Harvey of the tight office space in the Fowler Building. “We do not have enough room for the current faculty, much less any new personnel that could be added,” Harvey said. With the exceptional growth that the university has had in the past three years, there is not enough room in Fowler to house the various necessities of the college. Currently, the college uses four different buildings for classes and office space for faculty and graduate assistants. As for the location of this new building, President Rogers and Harvey both have the same idea. ‘The north side of the quadrangle would be the most likely place,” Rogers said. It would require the demolition of the old music education buildings, where some of the business classes are held currently. “It is up to the architect to figure out the specifics on exactly where it would go and how far it sticks out into the quadrangle,” Rogers said. Harvey looks to have the entire project completed in time for Fall 2005.
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