Soviets students visit U. in program

After traveling half-way around the world and forgoing sleep for more than 40 hours, a group of 15 students and faculty from the Soviet Union got their first taste of American culture over pizza and coke at the Modern Languages College House last night. The group from Moscow State University arrived at the University last night, the start of a 10-day visit to the United States and the first half of an exchange between the University and Moscow State. The Moscow group's packed itinerary will take it all over Philadelphia and on day trips to New York and Washington D.C. The group is being hosted by a group of University students and faculty, who will make a reciprocal visit to Moscow State in May. Students in the group said they came to observe American culture. "We wanted to see your country, we wanted to see your system of education, we wanted to see Philadelphia," said Nikita Michino, a philosophy major at Moscow State. Leonid Kritskov, a graduate student of computer science, said that in the Soviet Union, the U.S. is stereotyped as "a rich, prosperous country" of businessmen. He added that he came here with an open mind and wants to know what America is really like. According to Peter Steiner, the chairperson of the Slavic Studies Department at the University and head of the American end of the exchange, the exchange was the brainchild of Provost Michael Aiken who, on a trip to the Soviet Union, decided that the University should become more "East-oriented." The application process for participating in the program was similar in both countries. Eighty students applied for 13 spots at the University, and the other two spaces were reserved for faculty. The American group will stay at Moscow State University for eight days and will spend an additional two days in Leningrad. Dmitri Kostomarov, the dean of the Computer Science Department at Moscow State and the leader of the Soviet delegation, said that his main reason for coming to the U.S. was to see how the American education system works and to find ways to apply American techniques in his department. Steiner called this program a trial "balloon," and said that if all goes well, and if a source of continued funding can be found, then the program will continue annually. Kostomarov called this a "tourist trip" because of its short duration and said that he had hopes to organize future exchanges that last a full semester.

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