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The Red & Black | Thursday, November i6. 2000 | 3
Cultural exchange draws big crowd
National Student
Exchange offers
rare opportunities
Program allows students to choose
where they want to study abroad
By KATHLEEN GRAHAM
For The Red & Black
Whether riding west in search
of golden opportunities or
braving northerly climates for
the sake of studying in a differ
ent part of the country,
University students have discov
ered a program that seems to
turn the collegiate fantasy of
travel and study into a reality.
Every year, students choose
to participate in the National
Student Exchange program and
experience life as an outsider at
another college in the United
States.
The program aUows students
to transfer to schools outside of
their home states and attend a
college or university of their
choosing.
According to Jenny Best,
NSE coordinator for the
University, students travel to
different schools because of a
combination of geographical
and academic reasons.
“It is a good way to explore
your own country,” Best said.
“NSE offers more than just one
college experience.”
The National Student
Exchange is a consortium of col
leges, universities and schools
joined together for the purpose
of enhancing students’ college
experiences.
The program became active
at the University in 1978 and
today exchanges almost 100 stu
dents annuaUy.
Katy Stillerman, a senior
from Decatur, exchanged for one
year to the University of
Montana at Missoula.
“Looking back, it ah seems so
surreal,” Stillerman said. “There
wasn’t really a decision to make.
I just looked at a map.
Montana was screaming my
name.”
According to a 2000-2001
compilation by NSE of reasons
to exchange to another school,
relocating to a different area of
the country was an important
factor in a student’s decision
to exchange.
Macker Babb, a sophomore
from the University of Alaska
in Fairbanks, is on a oner-
year exchange to the
University.
“I wanted to go somewhere
where it doesn’t snow and stays
warm,” Babb said. “Georgia
seemed like a good school, one
of the best in NSE so far as
academics.”
University students con'
cerned with the cost of attend
ing an out-of-state school
through NSE will find that most
exchanges allow them to pay
University tuition while study
ing at the host campus, Best
said.
According to the NSE direc;
tory, 97 percent of NSE appli
cants are exchanged, with near-,
ly 84 percent placed at their
first choice of college or
university.
Carrie Dillon, a senior from
Lilburn currently attending
California State University at
Chico, said she originally want
ed to go to California
Polytechnic State University at
San Luis Obispo, but, at Best’s
suggestion, exchanged to CSU
at Chico.
“I wanted to be near the
mountains and on my own,”
Dillon said. “Chico has smaller
class sizes than UGA, and
my grades have actually
improved.”
However, leaving home and
venturing out into unknown
territory hardly comes without
fear.
“At first I was worried about
leaving my comfort zone here
and having to make new friends
again,” Stillerman said.
“But Missoula was a small
town and everyone there, even
the residents, were so friendly,’ 1
she said.
For students such as Dillon,
the adventure is well worth the
worrying.
“It’s about throwing yourself
out there and seeing what
comes out of it.”
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ESTABLISHED IBIS. INDEPENDENT 1981
By PAUL FULTON Jr.
pfulton@randb.com
The center of the world was at the Tate
Student Center Wednesday as represen
tatives from different international stu
dent groups descended upon the plaza to
share their cultures with the University
population.
The five-hour event, called “Around the
World in Tatey Days: An Intercultural
Exchange,” corresponded with
International Exchange Week and drew
more than 1,000 visitors, according to
Saehee Chang, coordinator of
International Student Life.
“We had a lot of Americans,” Chang
said. “I was surprised, but I was happy,
too. That was one of my goals, to get
more Americans involved.”
The event, co-sponsored by the office
of International Student Life and World
Ambassadors, never had been held
before, but Chang said the large crowds,
positive feedback and interested
students have prompted her to go ahead
on planning a similar festival for next
year.
Michelle Fonseca, a senior from United
Arab Emirates and president of World
Ambassadors, said Tate Plaza was the
perfect location for students to pass by
and learn something about the world on
their way to their classes.
“It’s a great way to tell UGA students
that we’re UGA students, too,” she said.
“And we’d like to share what cultural dif
ferences we have to offer.”
Live performances and more than 20
organizations were represented at the
event, including the Canadian Students
Association, Asian American Student
Association, the Korean Undergraduate
Student Association and the Palestinian
Student Association.
In its first official year, representatives
from the Canadian Students Association,
explained to passers-by the diff
erences between their country and
America.
“There’s a definite resounding ‘no’
from everybody (if you ask Canadians if
their country is similar to America),” said
Vicky Wong, a sophomore from Toronto
and president of the club.
“A lot of Americans don’t see the
difference between us and them,” she
said.
Amena Tareen already has graduated
from the University, but she returned to
Tate to volunteer with the Palestinian
Student Association to create henna
designs for students in exchange for a $2
donation that went toward helping
Palestinian orphans.
She said the traditional body art,
which dates back more than 5,000 years,
usually is worn during holidays and wed
dings, and she had decorated about 15
students in an hour.
Lina Zaputa, an graduate student from
Colombia, said Tatey Days presented a
unique opportunity for University stu
dents to come into contact with
representatives from all corners of the
world.
“It’s a pretty good way for different
students to learn about different cultures
RAKHI DALAL | The Red a Black
▲ Junior, Ramee Shalabi of Jordan
makes the call for prayer, the adhan,
which is part of the Muslim faith.
and organizations,” she said as Tareen
put the finishing touches on her henna
design. “I didn’t know the Palestinians
even had an organization here. Now I
know, and it’s a good way to get
information.”
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Do you stand apart from the rest?
Are you amazing, smart, or are you a LEADER,
©mte, INCREDIBLE, fascinating, hilarious.
adventurous...do you have a story to tell?
Do you want to leave your mark at UGA?
Are you worthy enough to be spotlighted?
If so, apply for The Pandora Yearbook’s 4th Annual Spotlight Section.
We are expecting a wide range of applications.
Winners will receive their OWN full page and we will hire
photographers to conduct a photo session for their page.
Applications at the Tate Student Information Desk...
Due By December 1, 2000
By ANGIE HERRINGTON
aherringt@randb.com
Today’s journalists have the
power to bring about social
change by flexing their editorial
muscles, according to John
Egerton, speaker at the 23rd
Ralph McGill lecture
Wednesday.
More than 60 students and
faculty gathered in the
University Chapel to hear the
famous Southern journalist and
author examine the role jour
nalists played in propelling the
civil rights movement.
Egerton asked the audience
what issues the press will be
battling in the 21st century —
such as healthcare, education
or the effects of the electronic
revolution.
“Who will be the next
(Ralph) McGill?” he said.
McGill, former editor and
publisher of The Atlanta
Constitution, wrote several
editorials during his editorship
condemning racial discrimina
tion.
“The white South was not
ready to stand with him, and he
landed firmly on the radical
side,” Egerton said. “He reluc
tantly but resolutely became
u
“It was an honor to hear
the man on the forefront
of one of the greatest
moral victories of the last
century. ”
MARY MILLER
University Staff Member
the nagging conscience of the
South.”
All Southern roads lead to
Atlanta, and McGill’s office
became a meeting place for
correspondents everywhere,
Egerton said.
“They were messengers of an
inevitable cause, and like many
a messenger, they took a ston
ing,” he said.
Amelia Knoedler, a 24-year-
old editor of the Unadilla
Observer at the time, was one
example of McGill’s far-reach
ing influence, he said.
Egerton told a story of how
after Knoedler witnessed mem
bers of the Ku Klux Klan plac
ing a burning cross in a Jewish
neighbor’s yard, she lashed out
at the organization in her col
umn, daring them to take off
BECKY REID | The Red a Black
A John Egerton, a Civil
Rights journalist spoke at the
23rd Ralph McGill lecture.
their hoods.
The town was largely silent
on the issue, but McGill jumped
into the fray, reprinting
Knoedler’s columns.
“I phoned (Knoedler) last
week and she said, ‘I never was
afraid, but it was lonely because
most people didn’t want to get
involved,’ ” he said.
Egerton also spoke admiring
ly of John Popham, the first
Southern correspondent for
The New York Times.
“His lesson to me: All writing
slants the way the writer leans,
for no one is perpendicular, but
some are upright,” he said.
Renita Ward, a graduate stu
dent from Lithonia, said she
liked that Egerton spoke truth
fully of the legalized white
supremacy that ruled the South
for so long.
“He showed the media as
activists who brought the issues
to the people and contrasted
today’s glitz and glamour
reporting to how it used to be,”
she said.
Mary Miller, a University staff
member, asked Egerton to sign
her copy of his book, entitled
“Speak Now Against the Day.”
“It was an honor to hear the
man on the forefront of one of
the greatest moral victories of
the last century,” she said.
Civil Rights journalist speaks
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