Look out Tokyo, Wharton on undergrads are on their way

Upset that an international business course was offered only to MBA students, Wharton sophomore Velyn Sia decided to take matters into her own hands. Sia formed an undergraduate committee to design a similar program for undergraduates. The group's first project will be a seven-week course followed by a trip to Japan over spring break. And if all goes well, the committee will consider programs to other parts of the world such as the Soviet Union and Europe. "We watch the MBA's very closely," said Helen Teyv, a Wharton junior who helped organize the trip. "My personal feeling is, 'Hey, I can do that too.' There is nothing to hold us back." The 30 participants in the program, who will be chosen this semester, will meet two hours a week in the spring to learn about Japanese culture and business practices, according to Teyv. Teyv said the committee will invite professors and businessmen to lecture on topics such as Japanese history, society and religion. "It will be tough to get it all in before the trip," said Engineering senior Kei Sato, who is a co-organizer of the program. "We may not be able to go into as much depth as some of these topics deserve." In addition, the participants will meet every other week to learn about Japanese culture in an informal social session. "This kind of thing should not be all academic. It should be an experience," Sato said. Dinner at a Japanese restaurant, Japanese calisthenics and running through the Japanese version of "The Dating Game" are a few of the activities planned for the sessions. "The 'Dating Game' is a popular TV show in Japan," Sato said. "We thought that it would be great icebreaker." In the Japanese version of the game, 15 men and 15 women mingle for three hours. Then each man asks out the women he is interested in until one of them says yes, although according to Sato some men only get "no's." The trip to Japan, which Sato coordinated with the help of his committee and alumni in Japan, will be the culmination of the experience. The students will visit businesses and universities as well as major cities and historical sites. The tentative schedule includes visits to Keio University, the Ministry of Finance and Tokyo Disneyland. The members of the committee said they were proud of their co-workers and thankful for the help they received from Wharton. "The people who are running it are very motivated," Sato said. "I never thought I could do something this big in the Wharton School," Wharton senior Deborah Hong said. "We knocked on [the administration's] door, and they opened it and I wanted to step in." "If you work through the administration and work through the system and show patience, I think the administration is much more open," Sia said. Wharton Dean Thomas Gerritty praised the students for their initiative at the Deans' Forum yesterday. Sia said she wants the program to be a credit-bearing course because students will feel that they are getting more out of it if they receive credits. Wharton Vice Dean Janice Bellace praised the program, but said she did not see it becoming a course because the costs would be "prohibitive" since Wharton does not have extra faculty to staff it. With students running the program and no professor to hire, students will absorb between $1000 and $1500 of the cost. Japanese and U.S. corporations will be contributing a significant portion of the money, according to program organizers. Students interested in the program can sign up this week in the basement of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. It is open to all undergraduates, according to Teyv. "We're looking for an enthusiasm for internationalism, tempered by maturity," said Accounting Lecturer Alvin Carley, the committee's faculty adviser. Carley and the committee will evaluate all of the applications.

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