What's in a name?

Back in the C.I., back in the C.I., back in the C.I.S. It just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? The old, familiar USSR has undergone globe-altering changes in the last six months, including the breakup of central authority, the end of Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure, and a new name -- the Commonwealth of Independent States. Russian President Boris Yeltsin has eliminated price controls and subsidies in an effort to shock the country into a free market economy. As a result, prices have skyrocketed and food is scarce. It is the stuff of history, viewed nightly on the evening news. But for students at the University and other colleges who have planned exchange programs to Russia, this upheaval has had a more direct affect on their lives. · At the beginning of the thaw in the Cold War, the University began searching for schools in the eastern bloc to participate in exchange programs. So far, two have begun in the former Soviet Union alone -- a semester-long study abroad program in Russia, and a shorter exchange program with Moscow State University. But according Jean Morse, the coordinator of the short-term exchange, the program is currently "in a state of flux." This year's trip, which is still in the planning stages, is largely dependent on the ability of the Russian students to come to the University. "It is not clear whether the Russians can come," National Program Director Joyce Randolph said. "Aeroflot [the Russian airline] demands hard, Western currency which is a high price for the Russian students." "Everything is in a state of turmoil," Morse added. "They don't know what the tickets will cost them or how they are going to pay for them." Last year marked the inaguration of the program. Slavic Languages Professor Peter Steiner led a group of 13 undergraduates and one graduate student form Moscow State University on a two-week excursion after finals in May. The Russians sent the same number of students to study at the University during spring break in March. This year's exchange was originally planned during the same time periods, but now the whole program is hanging in the balance. "We need information from them," Morse said. It is still unclear if the University would send students to Russia if Russian students could not return the favor. · The University also participates in a semester-long study abroad program in Russia, through the American Council of Teachers of Russian. Three students recently returned from the first semester of the program, and five more are preparing to leave February 1. University officials said that although University students will be going to Russia, the program will not be an exchange. Usually, three or four Russian students study at the University for a year. The students who just returned from Russia began their trip only a few weeks after the failed hardliner coup. The students were almost prevented from participating in the program, but according to Janna Ignatow, a junior who spent the first semester at the Moscow Linguistics Institute, officials persuaded the State Department to lift travel restrictions. "Once you get there, you realize that there is no danger," Ignatow said. "The only danger to foreigners comes because [Russians] realize that foreigners have money, and therefore foreigners are more likely to be mugged." The students were in Russia when the leadership passed from Gorbachev to Yeltsin. "Yeltsin is still very popular in Russia, but it has been a couple weeks since I left," Ignatow said, adding that Yeltsin's popularity has dropped since prices began shooting up. · Five students are preparing to depart on February 1 for Russia, with four students planning to study in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg. The group is scheduled to return to the U.S. on June 1. Despite the precarious situation in the former Soviet Union, most students said they have not had a change of heart and are excited to leave. "I've always been fascinated with Russian history," College junior Marianne Alves said. "For me, it's just the perfect time to be going." Alves, an international relations and Russian language major, will be studying language courses at the Moscow Energy Institute. She worries more about getting sick than any political dangers. "I am not concerned at all about revolution," Alves said. "If anything really serious happens, they will remove us." College junior Krisztina Redei, a Comparative Literature major who will be studying at Herzen University in St. Petersburg, is a bit more cautious. "I'm definitely concerned about it," Redei said. "But I'm still going to go." "Despite what you hear on the news, there is still food there," Redei added. "There is not as much trouble in St. Petersburg." The upheaval in the remnants of the Soviet Union is affecting other programs as well. Dartmouth College normally has a foreign studies program at Leningrad State University in St. Petersburg, as well as an exchange program with Moscow State University. The exchange with Moscow State University has been canceled. "The program was canceled not only for political reasons," said Peter Armstrong, Dartmouth's assistant dean of faculty. "The number of applicants declined significantly. We normally send 15, and we got only two or three applications." Cornell University is currently planning a program that will be available for students in the fall of this year. "We are in the midst of establishing a program amid all the political changes," said C.J. Koepp, the assistant director of Cornell Abroad. "We began planning before the coup and we are still going ahead." But despite the continuing turmoil, students and administrators are hoping for the best. "Activities relating to Russia and other republics are really in a fluid state," Randolph said. "Everybody is trying to be as flexible as possible."

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