■ 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
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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
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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
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Prices subject to change.
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Dept 192-2056.
Bohemia. New York
11716
Please send me your free
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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...
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