B 9
merican Reports on Student 'Soviet' at University
(Editors note: Each year,
under the U.S. -Soviet Cul
tural Exchange program,
there ii trade of HudenU
between the two countriei.
Thii year there are 32 Ameri
can! i u d y i n g at Moscow
Moskva) university. Here is
the story ot one of them, an
account thai, at the same
time provides a rare look at
life on a Soviet university
campus.)
By JAY AXELBANK
United Press International
Moscow - WW - The young
Russian student was in trou
ble, on trial before lour fel
low students at Moscow uni
versity ior a breach of dormi
tory discipline. The question
was whether he should be
given '. another chance or or
dered out of the dormitory
which could be the prelude
to expulsion from the uni
versity. Judging the boy's fate-he
had failed to take his proper
turn attending the dormitory
telephone-was the dormitory
soviet , or student council,
One of its four members
was an American, 25-year-old
Philip Stewart of 149
Arlington ave., Elmhurst, 111.
The vote against expulsion
was three to one, with Stew
art among those voting
nyet.
Soviet Accepted
"I thought he should have
another c h a n c e," Stewart
said. "The guy who , wanted
him out was lough, a sort
of Stalinist you might say."
Stewart came to Moscow
last September and will end
his studies here next month.
He is the only one of the 32
Americans currently at Mos
cow university, who belongs
to a student "Soviet. 1
"They asked me, and I
said okay," he said. "The stu
dents all accept me without
question or surprise. On -the
Why did this fabulously
successful performer throw
away a S100,000-a-week
career -by retiring from
television?
Read her answer in the
fascinating interview by
Hollywood editor, Peer.
J, Oppenheimer in the
MAY 26TH Issue of
JVesJcJy
with your copy of the
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THURSDAY. MAY 23, 1363
Soviet' we never talk poll
tics. We just keep the rules;
in our dormitory."
The slender, soft - spoken i
American holds a master's de-1
gree from Indiana university
and is aiming for a doctorate
in local government. He is
on the "jurisdieal faculty" at
the university here and has
concentrated on studying So
viet government at the ob
last or regional level. There
are no tests and no grades
and Stewart sets his own
course under guidance or a
faculty adviser,
"How much work you do
is entirely a matter of consci
ence," Stewart explained. ,
Major subjects taught at
the university include mathe
matics, physics, chemistry,
zoology, psychology, history.
philosophy and philology -language
and literature. Most
of the Americans here are
studying philology, history or
psychology,
Like all students Stewart
lives in a dorm, but unlike
most of them he has his wife,
Nancy, with him. They share
a small room on the sky
scraper uniyersity's eighth
floor, where the 23-year-old
Nancy housekeeps. Only for
eigners are allowed to have
their wives with them in the
dormitory.
Better Than Books
Stewart is grateful for his
chance to have served on the
student Soviet. "It's been bet
ter," he said, "than reading
50 books on the subject of
local government." The sys
tem of "Soviets" runs all
through Russian life. They
are found in schools, facto
ries and offices. They are
semi-official and operate on
disciplinary matters similar
to the disciplining of the stu
dent who shirked his 'phone
duty. On higher, and politi
cal levels the Soviets govern
districts, cities, republics,
culminating in the supreme
Soviet of the U.S.S.R. Lenin
said, "All power to the So
viets."
A , basic point of Russian
life, Stewart said, is that the
Soviets always come under
control of, and are responsi
ble to, the Communist party
"I've learned this first hand,'
Stewart said. He devotes an
average of two or three hours
a week to his duties on the
dormitory Soviet,
Stewart summarizes his im
pression of Russian life, as
seen at the university, in one
word, "control.
"Don't get me wrong," he
said, "control is part of West
ern life, too. Only in Amer
ica, for instance, control as
sures that everybody can pur
sure his own aims. In the
Soviet Union control assures
that each person, each organ
i2ation, serves the party and
the state.
Sports no Fun
As an example of Soviet
kind of control, Stewart re
ferred to the "extra curricu
lar activities" at Moscow uni
versity - what few of them
there are.
most oi tins activity re
volves around political eve
nings, and most of them are
devoted to Cuba or Iraq.
Sports are tied in with mili
tary and physical prepared
ness, not fun. '
For Stewart and Nancy,
Hie at the university is fair
ly hemmed in. Other than
their tiny room - 10 feet by
20 feet - there is no place to
go except to the ' day room
on their floor during the win
ter months or, in better
weather, to the city parks.
At the university itself there
are no snack bars, no cafes,
no students unions in the so-
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STMTS' M
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OUTSIDE UNIVERSITY American Ex
change Student Philip Stewart of Elmhurst,
111., and his wife, Nancy, check notebook out
side Moscow's skyscraper university, shown
cial sense. The university
cafeterias are open only dur
ing meal times and are strict
ly utilitarian.
Students wind up visiting
in each other's rooms or
chatting in the hails or day
rooms. "Buying a girl a Coke
or a beer is impossible,"
Stewart said. "You see guys
and coeds holding hands in
the hallways, or going out
for walks when the weather
is good."
Passes Required
Compared to school life in
the United States Stewart
and Nancy agree that Mos
cow's students "have il
tough." To enter the univer
sity compound students and
others must present a pass
that is checked by four per
sons. A guest must have a
special pass and application
for it must be made days in
advance.
In addition to his role on
his dormitory Soviet, Stewart
"participates" in the univer
sity's communistic life in oth
er ways. First of all, like all
Soviets, Stewart's comes un
der the party thumb. It is ini
tially responsible to the So
viet of the entire school, and
must also bow to the local
Komsomol SYoung Commu
nist League) organization.
There is a Komsomol worker
serving as "kommandant" of
each floor.
"Our Community party
worker," Stewart said, "gave
us a lecture al the beginning
of the semester. It was a girl
and she said to us that control
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A.J K. -
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7 "os-Jm.? . "i" i mi in
in background. The 25-year-old American
is one of 32 U.S. citizens studying In Rus
sia under Curtural Exchange Program.
(UPI).
was an essential thing in cv-i
ery student's life."
- Stewart's studies also come
under Communist-type plan
ning, even though it is sim
ply library work and re
search, with no actual classes.
"If I fall behind in my work,"
the Hlinoisan said, - "my ad
viser chides me that I am
falling behind in my plan just
as a factory worker might
fall behind by not turning
out enough automobiles."
Despite the restricted na
ture of their university life
fcriixrinfc
1
171
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Stewart said most of the Rus
sian students are pretty much
like their American counter
parts. Even with the control
and checking of passes, lie
has found the atmosphere
fairly relaxed and "they love
bull sessions late into the
night," Sometimes sneak par-
tics arc held in students
rooms and party-givers signal
from room to room by tapping
on the walls.
"And sometimes," Stewart
said with a laugh, "they just
plain goof off.
With Trad
3-CYCLE
WASHER
There Is one highly popu
lar form of relaxation in tne
dorms - surprisingly tbe;
match game" known in
America. "The idea, as I
guess you know," said Stew
art, "is to guess the total num
ber of matches in your list
and those held by the others.
Haeh player has three match
es for the game, I don't play
it myself because I haven't
nad time. Every minute 1 can
I spend in the library be
cause I do want to get on
with my doctoral thesii."
Plans To Teach
Stewart then outlined his
own plan for the future. "This
year lias given me the chance
to live among the Bussians.
Academically I am here to
gather firsthand material -
mainly from regional newspa
pers. When I get back homej
1 hope to spend s year at the j
Library of Congress research
ing more material, and then
get tny doctorate In 1884. It
nope to be teaching Russian
political science by the fall
of '84," 1
Over and beyond what lie
has learned by study Stewart
has of course formed a num
ber oi impressions, ranging
from what Russia is like un
der Premier Nikita Khru-
sheev and what the average
Russian thinks of Americans.
I have a few Russian
friends, not many," Stewart
d. "Nancy and I really live
life mainly cut off from
the majority of the T.000 stu
dents here. They don't care
to come into our room, much.
There's no ban on this, but
I guess they don't want to
be associating too much with
an American,
"But there's no police ter
ror any more In tills country,
just the control. This can
bring trouble in other ways.
A bad record at university
might Interfere with getting
a good job later on, or jeop
ardise the person's standing
m the Komsomol and aUeet
chances of getting into the
party,"
Coupl Eais Well
ihe Stewarts eat better
llian most of the students. Un
der ihe exchange grant lie
received a stipend for sup
port of his wife, a small sum
for books, and transportation
was paid. In addition Stewart )
receives 150 rubles $165) aj
month from the Soviet gov-,
crnmcnt as the other Amerl-1
can students do. Other for
eign students get about 100
rubles jtllO) a month, and
Soviet siudents jet a govern
ment allowance of 30 rubles
($33),
"On that," said Siewart of
"I luLpxrlnir
17
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apartment hous
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ir Oven door lift off for easleit cleaning
No-drip top design Pushbutton control
it fast heating ill-cilrsd demand threughsut
it Can't fade porcelain fhrsughout
i
that the
always
the Russian student allow
ance, "they can just eat.
Many ol them gel help front!
home,"
The Stewarts own food
bill averages about $100 a
month and the rest of the
money goes to miscellaneous
upkeep. '.Russian exchange
students in the U S, ars paid
from $140 to $190 a month
by the American government,
a higher sum because of high
er living cosis. Their other
expemres including travel are
paid by the Russian govern
ment. There are SO, the maxi-
mum under the program ioris
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come from Borger's
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this year.)
Finally, how hs the Yank
at Moskva Iclt ss an Amen
can among the Russians?
"There's a reservoir of
good will tor us," Stewart
said, "even though they do
tend to be standoffish here
at
the university. Even
tag the Cuban crisis, I didn't the change in barroom regu.
hear single bad wort said batons which HM prohibit
gainst u m Americans." 4mcc hm
In Puerto Rico, the sun j Gone Is the old rule ihat re
shines 30 days a year, nuked waitresses to tauttoort
The city N Francisco I
built on 43 nils,
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