Happy Valley syndrome
common to citizenry
By PAUL ESQUEDA
Venezuela
Graduate-electrical engineering
Most international students are in agreement with the common de
scription of Penn State and the areas around it, it is a happy valley
indeed!
Needless
,to say, the majority of foreign students find their stay
at Penn State a very rewarding learning experience. Language
difficulties and cultural differences add, at times, unpleasant
ness to that experience.
One of the most unpleasant situations that foreign students
have to face in their everyday life is the lack of knowledge and
understanding of traditional values and ways of life of other
cultures by most North Americans. This is possibly in contra
diction with the fact that this is a college community and, as
such, a somewhat higher cultural level is expected.
A reason for this may be the poor coverage of international
news and events by the local and national mass media. Most
North Americans get to know about some areas in the world
because of either extreme disasters in those areas or because
of serious disagreement of those countries with the United
States's policies abroad.
The general feeling of international students is that more
concern of the American public in world affairs is of utmost
importance since the United States is politically and eco
nomically involved in the everyday life of a large number of
a large number of countries all over the world.
U.S. involvement in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast
Asia and Latin America are examples. It must be recognized,
though, that there are small groups in the community who have
a legitimate interest and are receptive to international prob
lems
In most of the developing countries, college students take a more
active role in political and economic issues of national and interna
tional nature.
On the average, foreign students are satisfed with the academic level
of the university; nevertheless, they cannot escape the feeling of being
treated as consumers rather than students.
Penn State and almost all North American universities play an academic
role as well as a business role in this society. They must sell education and ser
vices at prices that are not necessarily favorable to prospective college students.
Students who come from countries where college education is free, i.e., fully funded
by the state, find tuition costs at Penn State extremely high and a striking feature of the
American system of education. . .
By ASHOK K. MOZA
Graduate-fuel sciences
Coming to the United States is a dream
come true for most middle class Indians.
Not every one of them makes it, but
those who do make it tend to be rich or
brainy or both.
Excepting some highly chauvinistic or
politically biased people, the Unitd
States is looked upon with fascination.
To some it is a country of poor hippies
who they see flocking around the Temple
of Benaras and elsewhere.
To others it is a country of tough,
rugged people who they see in Western
movies. To others, it is a rich country,
stinking with money and opportunity.
Being educated in this country (or for
that matter, in any Western country) is a
kind of a social status symbol among
Indians in India.
Not that education is inferior in India,•
but I guess it has to do something with
our colonial past.
India is a heterogeneous country with
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allosi MAP
Distance changes student's views
By WEI-CHANG LIAUH
Taiwan
Graduate-chemical engineering
When I was a little kid ( that was about
ten years after the second World War), I
was impressed that America was a
wonderful country.
People' living here were wealthy,
friendly and happy. This was a country
"which was leading in technology and
many other fields.
However, I can remember when I had
the impression that this country was full
of crime, violence, drugs and any other
terrible things that one can imagine.
Of course you know, as I gradually
realized, that this picture is certainly not
true. We should blame the mass com
munication media. They like to report
news good for themselves, although it
might not be good for the society.
In my opinion, I still think that
the
daily
Indians
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live an American dream
422 dialects and 16 fully developed
languages. It has five religions. India
has the largest Hindu, Sikh and Jain
populations and the second largest
Muslim population.
Not only do Indians have different ,
religions and languages, they may have
entirely different cultutal backgrounds.
In fact, a north Indian is about as dif
ferent from a south Indian as an
American from a Latin American.
It is therefore expected that no two
Indians will react in an identical manner
to north Indian culture.
What of course impresses me the most
about the United States is the obvious
material advancement of this nation. In
fact, it is this factor that generally at
tracts most Indians to settle down in this
country.
India, although it is now ranked as the
fifteenth industrially advanced nation in
the world, is still a rich (in terms of
natural resources) country of very poor
people.
On one hand India makes its own
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America is a nice, beautiful and great
country. This might be because I am
living in a small, quiet college town.
If you ask a person from a big city
such as New York or Philadelphia, you
will very possibly get a description
which is similar to the one I mentioned
before. However, thank God, not
everyone has to live in the big city.
I Used to think that American people
belonged ' to two groups one that
played sports and one that only watched
the other group play.
It is surprising to me to find out that
most people, do play a lot of different
kinds of sporis.
Generally speaking, American
students work harder than I used to
think. The educational system seems to
be directed towards being real and
facing the actual problem.
One thing about this country that
nuclear reactors while half of the
population still uses bullock carts as a
means of transport.
India' is the sixth largest producer of
coal, yet 60 per cent of its population still
uses cow dung as a fuel.
Though the Indians who make it to the
United States generally come from the
middle class or upper middle class
strata, they cannot hope to maintain the
same standard of living in India as they
can in this country.
The other thing I was personally
impressed 'with is the honesty of an
average American. He is honest with
himself and says what he believes in.
One very rarely comes across
situations of organized forms of
hypocracy. There is a deeper ap
preciation of personal honesty by most
Americans.
Americans tend to have less hang-ups
about what they wear or eat or how they
eat. Jeans, I think, are a perfect
example of this.
There is a lesser tendency in the
Illustrations by Lisa Bollinger
really bothers me is the American
patriotism. I can never understand why
American people always complain about
their own government.
I would become crazy if I were
president of the United States because
there are so many complaints. Some of
them even involve psychologically
personal attacks.
Well, this might be the American way
of politics.
The other thing that bothers me is
people's attitudes towards foreign cars.
My roommate was intending to buy a
car, and he just completely ignored
American-made cars , in his con
sideration. This is common, since you
always hear people complaining about
American small cars.
However, he finally changed his mind
and made a right decision. You don't
expect a '7l Vega to be still in good
condition, as you seldom see a car of the
American culture to attach social values
to money.
One is also impressed with the ef
ficient organization of the state. The
system here is more flexible, allows
people more freedom, but is still ef
ficient.
On the negative side, Americans tend
to have a false pride in their way of life.
Anything need not be big and great just
because it is American.
I am at times surprised at the
ignorance of some American students
about the rest of the world.
Americans are too standoffish, they
don't like to get too close. One rarely
comes across a close knit family one
sees in "The Waltons."
There is not much interaction in
families as in India. Children sit glued to
the TV and don't want to interact.
There is also an overemphasis of sex
in the American life. American women
tend to identify it with women's lib, and
this way they are only weakening the
cause of women's lib in the long run.
rom costs to unions,
school systems vary
By SABAH A. WALL
Iraq
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Courses are either for a whole academic year (September
to June) or for one semester, with a three-week midyear
break in February.
In each college, a student union is elected by the whole
student body. From these unions, a national student office
is elected that has representatives in the highest legisla
tive bodies. Their task is to solve student problems and de
fend their rights.
Areas covered are housing, food, courses, examinations and
other important aspects of student life. A recent accomplish
ment is a free round-trip ticket for students who study abroad
and their families each year to visit the country.
Lo'cal student unions sponsor social activities including weekly
movies, plays and parties in addition to educational programs
which are an important and integral part of the student life.
Political awareness of what is happening in the world in general.
which is almost completely lacking in students at Penn State, is an im
portant aspect and is given considerable attention in our schools.
A pioneer experiment of the student unions is to run college cafeterias to
provide more and cheaper food for the students; also, there are centers for
selling and buying used books with no profit made.
Finally, all campuses are safe; assault and vandalism are very rare, and rape
s never heard of.
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same price and same age running well
on the road.
However, I cannot understand why
complaints always are made about
American cars.
Well, the above opinions might not be
true since I have been living in this
country for only a little more than two
years.
As a matter of fact, I am very grateful
for what I have been obtaining from this
country. I enjoy and appreciate the
experiences that I have had at Penn
State.
University President John Oswald
often mentions how well he was treated
when he was in Taiwan. That is because
Penn State has a strong and active
alumni organization there.
Someday when you have a chance to
travel abroad, you will be happy to find
out that there are so many good friends
that you can call on in each country.
Thursday, November 10, 1977-3
Graduate-physiology
One of the first things that struck me about education in the states was
the cost of education.
With recent increases in tuition, it will be obvious that certain peo
ple (mainly the poor) will have less chance in getting higher edu
cation, and, ironically, these are the people who need it most.
At home (Iraq), universities are completely subsidized by the
government; thus, college education is free to all who seek it.
Not only that, all graduate students are paid modest salaries
to help cover their needs for school and some of their living
expenses.
Academically, Iraqi undergraduates have to take a special
number of courses. These requirements vary according to
the school you are in.
In colleges of sciences, all freshmen take the same courses.
Then when they are sophomores, they apply to the depart
ment of interest with their grades as freshmen as a guide
line.
Photo by Chip Con