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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1975)
■ Students warned: mm Some foreign study plans hide rip-offs By BETH VAN DEUSEN Of the Emerald Imagine this: After months of excited preparation, your bags are almost packed, and you are ready to confirm your charter flight re servations, only to find the rates have been raised. Or worse still, your flight has been cancelled at the last minute. Maybe you have made it to the south of France, eagerly anticipat ing a year of study on the Riviera, not to mention that week you have planned at the Cannes Film Festi val and that brief excursion to Monte Carlo. But alas, you find yourself in an industrial city with more smog than L.A. You have to live in a dorm with an 11 p.m. curfew. You can’t take the university courses you want. You discover your fees have paid for an excursion you don’t want to take. And to top it all off, when you get back to the United States you are told your University won’t give you credit for your study abroad. These are not uncommon situa tions. But if you are planning over seas study, don’t be discouraged. It doesn’t have to be this way — if you are careful. There are many reliable and reputable companies offering charter flights. And there are many valuable and highly respected foreign study programs available. So you don’t have to take a chance on being ripped-off. The director of the International Education Center (IEC), Stephanie Szedny, has some warnings for those students con sidering a course of study at an overseas university. It is important, Szedny em phasizes, to know as much about the program you have selected as possible. Find out how reputable the program is and how long it has been operating. Check to see if anyone in your own academic de partment has heard of it. Find out if there is a resident director of foreign students on the campus, so that you don’t have to write back to the U.S. every time you have a problem. Check the prerequisites for the program and the courses availa ble to you. You may find you can only take courses offered by the foreign program, and cannot take courses throughout the university curriculum. You should be aware of the program rules and regulations. For instance, you may find the program does not make provi sions tor marned students to live together. Or you may find your dorm has a curfew Find out if you are allowed to make your own living rrange ments if you don’t like what is being offered. Szedny warns that students should be aware of exactly where their money is going. You should know what the program costs in clude and whether there are any additional charges outside the stated costs. Find out if it is possi ble to waive part of the expenses. You may find the program costs include things you don’t want. Often, Szedny says, students arrive home and find their over seas study credit will not transfer to their university at home. She stresses that arrangements for transferring credits should be made before leaving to go overseas. She suggests you have every course you plan to take approved by departments here. Then take Roam around Europe all summer for $180. A Student-Railpass gives you two months of unlimited Second Class rail travel through 13 European countries. Buy one, we'll give you a map, and where you go next is your own business. All we II say is that European trains are a sensational way to get there, be it Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden or Switzerland. 100,000 miles of track link cities, towns and historic, scenic and social attractions. Our trains are fast, modern, convenient, clean and comfortable. Mna you n aiscover mere s very nine second class aDout Second Class. You can sieep in a couchette for only $6.00 a night. And if you want to eat on a budget, inexpensive snacks are often available. You can even take a cruise on the Rhine, if you like. Eurailpass is valid on many European ferries, river and lake steamers and hydro foils. It also offers you substantially reduced fares on many side excursions you might want to take by motor coach. And how's this for travel convenience? Many rail stations offer bikes for rental, and it's possible to pick up a bike at one station and drop it off at another. Jr\m mii you neea to quality is 10 De a run-time student under 26. There’s just one catch: You must buy your Student-Raiipass here before you take off. They’re not for sale in Europe. If you have less time to travel, or want to travel First Class, consider Eurailpass. A two-week pass costs $130. Three-week pass costs S160. ^ One month, $200. Two months, $270. Three months, $330. Don't wait. It could be the trip of your life. See your Travel Agent or clip the coupon and we’ll send you all the facts. Prices subject to change. Eurailpass. Box 90 Dept 192-2056. Bohemia. New York 11716 Please send me your free Student-Railpass folder □ Eurailpass folder ■i STUDENT-RAILPASS your nnai course listing to the re sistrar for written approval. Make sure it is all on paper, with signa tures from each department and from the registrar. You should be extremely care ful in selecting charter flights, Szedny warns, because there are many disreputable companies in operation. Often they will raise rates or cancel flights with no warning, leaving you stranded. There are many reputable com panies, so you don’t have to take chances Check with the Better Business Bureau and with the Dis trict Attorney’s office to see if the company you are considering has any complaints filed against it. If you have any questions check with the IEC. It has information on numerous charter operators, and an entire library of information on programs in every area of the world. Don’t risk wasting a lot of time and money on what can and should be a very valuable study experience. T rabucco involved, active... (Continued from Page 5) He admits that, "the class presidency is not what I ffad hoped. I’m probably going to run for sophomore class president. If I can do it, the class council will be what I think it should be.” When he pledged his frater nity Trabucco says one of his friends told him. "Gee, I didn’t think you were that kind of per son," and the reaction made him mad. “Being in a fraternity doesn t mean you're different from any one else." he says, "it just means you're in a different kind of living situation. And I think there are ad vantages to being in a house. Six months after ooming to the University, Trabucco says, “I feel like I have a command of situ ations." But that doesn't mean he has all the answers. “I get mad at myself when I leave studying for a test until the night before," he says. “I'll know I should have been working on it for a week, and I won't have done it.” And there are a few secrets in Trabucoo’s life. If you want to see him squirm, ask him why he spends so many weekends in As toria. Or press him for the story behind his nickname, Ostrich. It has something to do with the night of his fraternity initiation... AFROTC announces the ex pansion of its 2- and 3-year scholarship program. Men and women can now compete for scholarships in such aca demic majors as Computer Technology, Civil, Aerospace. Aeronautical, Electrical, Archi tectural, Mechanical, Astro nautical, and Industrial Engineering; Math; Meteorol ogy; and others. Contact: Maj. Louis C. Tronzo At: University of Oregon Telephone: 606-3107 for a complete list of available scholarships. You can be on your way to a college scholar ship and an Air Force Officer’s commission.
