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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1988)
A New Land For A New Way Of Learning International students face challenges with an alternative education Eight students, all from different educational opportunities. countries, sit around a table in the Instead of spending time productively, basement of Ncihardt Hall and he says, many of them waste time drinking compare their education here in Nebraska every weekend, behaving childishly and with the one they received in their home- being inconsiderate, lands. “To me, going out and getting drunk is Like members of a world council, they not productive,” he says, talk of flaws in their native countries’ edu- Boo says he doesn’t blame the students, cational systems and the problems they see rather the problem is social, stemming from at the University of Nebraska-L.incoln. their surroundings. Many agree on several points: education “Human beings arc the same, only the at the universities they attended back home environment changes,” he says, is cheaper than UNL; fewer students in their Most of the other students in the round countries have the opportunity for a higher table discussion agree: an approach to cdu education; professors at UNL have a better cation depends not only on the country, but relationship with their students. its needs, history and culture. But when it comes to attitudes on educa- 0 n ie efllHvino IheirWe^^roft^afdTf 'T^th' ^ for her doctorate in history at UNL® coumnesmA rcp^n ^ Korytovafirs,studiedgeographyin Soon Kim^Boo, 26. came to UNL from “cr homeland ot OechoslovaUa, and has Malaysia in 1983. He graduated with savs she^e to the United bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1986 c,,, jl r w J , P, and is currently working on his master’s in community and regional planning. a y planner giv, i adt e sys . Boo says he takes the idea of a higher onlyallowsasmanystudentstostudytnone education very seriously. drCd as ^nee5;s His views on what should be gained are . ^ Pech government has five year often more critical than the other students b antl,shefsays’in which it estimates the there. He says people in his country view flitae"for Z oXin higher education as very important. Malay- iv' J ne C uS 111C neea 0 i c sian famihes and the government there 'beral arts, so the government only tares 15 spend large amounts of money on educating 10 20 tastonans a year, she says. the country’s youth. Boo says the impor® savt n^o^^^s^cores^n'tefore tae TOunVaCen°WlCdge * ^ endofhighschooldeleiminethedigibility y . of each student to go to college. Therefore, anytime spent at a umver- Ljkcwisc sludc“ts al Czcch universities tunit,iLPrcforOU|eaminga shodd^ta °"l>' subjCCLS rcla,cd “'their field and takenadvantageof.bothinsileandoutside SSTSS Boo says he is "always looking for the bachel°r'* degrees at Czech universities, opportunity to learn something." onesTn the%S?mes ^ ^ During his years at UNL, he has become ( 1 L ted Mates. involved in numerous organizations. Boo w^-orytova says there are fewer exams was elected president of the International given in Czech universities. Most Student Organization in 1987 and is a sena- -M. m.arc oral exams given at the end of tor of the Association of Students of the the semester. University of Nebraska and the Advisoiy “That sort of encourages students to have Committee for International Student Af- a good time,” she says. BuLattheend of the fairs. semester students study very hard for al “I see my future as someone who is going most a month, to serve society,” he says, “so I need this Christos Mantzios spent a ycar-and-a time to learn.” half studying at the University of Athens in Boo says he is frustrated at UNL because his homeland of Greece. Mantzios says one many students don’t take advantage of their of the many reasons he does not like Greece’s higher education system is be cause of the entrance process. Mantzios says the process is similar to the one Korytova described. Juniors and seniors in high school take a national exam and acquire points. Those scores along with the students’ GPAs arc sent to the univer sity. Students can fill out a career preference sheet and specify what they would like to study, but if their scores arc not high enough for a chosen profession, they arc not allowed to study it, he explains. Because of the strict entrance standards, many of the students end up in professions they don’t want to pursue, Mantzios says. Many students arc so burned out by the process that they don’t study once they get to Greek universities. Absenteeism is also a problem, he says. Many times huge audito riums are left almost empty. Mantzios says he is insulted by the American “greek sys tem” of fraternities and sororities. “They do nothing to carry this name,” he says. ‘”niey just use it as an excuse to drink beer and be obnoxious.” Another difference between UNL and Greek universities, Mantzios says he has noticed, is that students in Greece are more politically active. “There is always something to demon strate against,” he says. I ■ - 1 Unlike students at UNL, Mant/ios says, if the students did not like something at a Greek university, they would light to change it. If the cafeteria food happened to .be terrible, students at Greek universities would tear it down, he adds. Sanaty Estehan from Teheran, Iran sa>s unlike the United States, much of the politi cal protest in his country started at its uni versities. Iran’s revolution in 1979 was partially due to unrest among the nation’s students under Shah Mohammad Rc/a Pahlavi’s regime, he says. During the Shah’s reign, almost 90 per cent of the students were against him, Estehan says. The Shah knew university students would most likely be against the government, he says. Students at UNL, he said, are much more passive and apathetic. “They complain a lot, but they don’t really do anything,” he says, adding that the Iranian students’ serious attitude toward politics carries over into their studies. While more than 250,000 Iranian stu dents graduate from high school every year, only about 40,000 to 50,000 can get into the universities, he says. The strict acceptance process is similar to that in Greece. There are a limited number of univer sities in Iran, creating higher stan dards for accepting students in ccr tain professions. Many male students who are not accepted end up in the military, he i said. Subsequently, many other students ! leave the country to study, i One thing Geoff McDonald, 24, says he has noticed at UNL since coming from Dcakin University in Australia is segrega I tion. Dividing UNL students into groups such as the “grcck and non-greek” systems, men and women, legal drinkers and minors, for j example, not only separates friends, but limits growth, he says. McDonald, who is currently working on his master’s in architecture at UNL, says | since coming to UNL, he has also noticed that UNL classes are often an ‘‘extension of high school.” In Australia, McDonald says, there is a better overall education before college so students can spend more time on individual research and critical thinking. McDonald says high school in Australia is tougher, so the system ‘‘weeds out the less bright i people.” Australian university students enjoy a cheaper tuition so many do not put as much of an emphasis on “getting their money’s worth” as Americans do, he says. Because there is no grade point average in Australia, McDonald said stu dents who study there are “not as interested in good marks.” The People’s Republic of China has no GPA cither, according to Hao Chang, a former student of Tong Ji University who is currently working on his master’s in com munity and regional planning at UNL. But Chang says students in his country pay more attention to grades than students at UNL. According to Chinese tradition, Chang says, a better education means a better chance, therefore many students take their education very seriously and study harder. Chang says he is sometimes frustrated at UNL by the number of tests given in gradu ate school. Time spent studying for too many exams, he says, takes away from time that could be spent on independent study and research. However, Chang says, professors at UNL have a better relationship with stu dents because they are easier to consult. Two students from Afghanistan and Poland agree that friendships during a student’s years at a university in their own countries are often different than at UNL. Rohullah Attaie, 28, studied three-and-a half years at Kabul Politechnique Univer sity in Afghanistan. Attaie, who is now a business student at UNL, says he remembers students becom ing very close friends during their years at the Afghani university. Groups that enter John Bruce, Andy Manhart and Tom Lauder/The Sower the university at the same time in the same major always stay together until graduation, he says. Attaie says 30 to 35 students at an Af ghani university who start at the same time have all of their classes together, because they have permanent schedules they can’t change. Over the years, students become “fam ily,” he says. They study together, celebrate together and even skip classes together. Be cause of that closeness, students there are much friendlier. Pawel Marczenia, 22, says students at the Teacher’s College of Zielona Gora in Po land where he first attended college, were closer than they are here. Friendships are intended to last a lifetime, so “students help each other any way they can,” he says. Marczenia says it is not uncommon for students even to help others cheat. “In Poland there is lots of cheating,” he said. Another problem in Polish universities, Marczenia said, is alcoholism. Most stu dents in Poland drink a lot on the weekends, he says. “And when we drink, we get drunk,” he says. Student unions at Polish universities sell beer, but many have stopped because of the alcohol problem, he says. One difference Marczenia says he has noticed between universities in the United States and Poland is the choice of classes. Like other countries, he says, Polish stu dents have a set schedule according to the profession that does not change. “Here students can choose their own classes,” he said. Marczenia says he likes the atmosphere at UNL better than the Polish university he attended because of the congenial relation ships between students and professors. “You have to have great respect for the teachers in Poland,” he says, “... but when you talk to teachers here, it is closer than it is in Poland.” Although the majority of Marczenia’s comments on his education at UNL were positive, many of the international students admitted their assessments were mostly negative. One reason for the lack of positive re action, Stepanka Korytova ex plained, is that most of the interna tional students come from countries in close proximity to other cultures, where students are more worldly-oriented. Many UNL students have not been out side the United States and have an isolated view of the rest of the world, she said. World politics, history and geography are sometimes difficult for UNL students, which she said puzzles many international students. However, opportunities are increasing in this country for students to study abroad, she said. Once Americans take advantage of them, Korytova says, many of those iso lated attitudes will disappear. But like the remote possibility that every American student will ever understand what it’s like to study at a distant university, so are the odds that people around the world will ever share the same views on education. —Lee Rood Soon Kim Boo of Malaysia
