Mississippi College - Tribesman Yearbook (Clinton, MS)

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German exchange student Udo Hebei became known to MC when Kissimee sent him an in- vitation to rush KT, not being able to tell if the name Udo was male or female. To make it up to him, KT made him an honorary member. DiFFERIMT When I took Sociology, the professor defined ethnocentrism as the belief that one ' s culture is the best and all others are interior or wrong in their customs. Having always considered myself to be openminded, I was sur- prised recently to find just how much ethnocentrism I have about the United States, when I talked with some of the international students and missionary kids who were born and raised in other countries. The experience was of great benefit to me in gaining a glimpse of countries I will never see ana has helped to erase some prejudices and misconceptions I had not even been aware existed. The German exchange student at MC this year is Udo Hebei from Jo- hannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. The university recently cele- brated it s 500 year anniversary, having been founded in 1477. The schod presently has an enrollment of approxi- mately 25,000 students. Having spent a year in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1974 as an exchange student in high school, Udo ' s had time to become accustomed to life in these United States. He does admit that Mis- sissippi is quite different from Pittsburgh. An English and literature major, Udo[s year here will be advantageous to him back in Germany in securing a teaching position. The college life is vastly different in Germany than it is here. One of the things Udo com- mented on was the way students live on campus-not just living in the dorms, but carrying on their whole lives on campus. In Germany, going to the university is more like going to a job-a person drives in to class in the morning and leaves after class. Not as many students live on campus, al- though there are some dormitories. A popular way of living is for several stu- dents to go in together and share a house. There isn ' t as much social cam- pus life, although there are many lec- tures and activities on campus related to studies. One of the most interesting things Udo revealed was that the stu- dents on German campuses today are about three times as politically active as students in California universities in the 1960 ' s. The educational system in Germany is such that by the time a student makes it to college (and getting into college is tougher) he has taken courses in high school that equal the core re- quirements we take in the first year of college. Instead, the student goes right into whatever he wants to major in. Also, there are no B.S. or B.A. degrees offered. Rather the students go five or so years to college and receive the equivalent of a Masters degree. A college year in Germany is made of two semesters. One lasts from the middle of October to the middle of Feb- ruary and the other from the middle of April to the middle of July. Five months of vacation time sounds abso- STROKES lutely heavenly, but Udo informed me that the off-time isn ' t just holiday time. For example, Udo knows the re- quirements of the courses he plans to take before each semester begins and is expected to have his novels and plays read before the semester even gets un- derway. (I wonder how many MC stu- dents picK up any kind of book in the summer?) Even though the school year has five months without classes, the university itself is not closed through- out this time, and facilities are open for student use. One difference Udo has noticed in- volves student-faculty relations. With the University so large, there is very little interaction between student and faculty as compared with MC. This dif- ference would probably be the same be- tween MC and the University of Michi- gan or any school of such large size. The lifestyle of the German students is quite different from MC students. The matter of dress shows one of the biggest differences. Girls very seldom wear dresses or make-up or do any- thing with their hair other than letting it go naturally. Udo said their basic at- titude is such that guys accept them more for what they are rather than what they look like, and he feels there is much more male-female equality in Germany than over here. Dating is done differently. Young people in Ger- many have fewer formal dates but rather meet at popular dancing or meeting places and then pair off. Typi- cally, a student may stay out until one o ' clock or so in the morning, but since classes never start before nine o ' clock and rarely before ten, this works out fine. It is common for classes to con- tinue until seven or eight o ' clock in the evening. A familiar face on campus for the past four years has been that of Duong Tan Ngygen. Although the face may be very familiar, the proper name of this individual can be pronounced correctly by only a few. Hence, shortly after Duong arrived at MC in 1975, a wise person quickly gave Duong the new name of Skip for a reason even Skip doesn ' t know now. Skip was born in Hue ' , South Vietnam, the third largest city in the country and, according to Skip, the most beautiful city in South Viet Nam. During the mass evacuation from Vietnam in the summer of 1975, Skip was able to catch one of the last flights leaving the city. The rest of his family, including his brothers and four sisters, are still in Viet Nam. On arriving in the U.S., Skip was sent to the refugee camp in Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas. Since he had already learned some English in Vietnam, Skip was able to act as an in- terpreter at the camp and help in re- settling the refugees. While at Ft. Chaffee, Skip saw an American friend who had previously served as a journey- man in Viet Nam. This friend in- troduced Skip to another journeyman Doug Kellum, from Tutwiler, Missis-

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“TH-GRG’S TOO MUCH- INTGGRITY OH THIS CAMPUS TO HdM€ AW fUM DATING ...” the girls.” Another comment was, I’m not interested in dating just to have a date; it would be nice it you could af- ford to do that.” A more encouraging view of the dating situation was given by one student when asked his opinion, I think it’s fantastic; I ' ve never seen anything like it and never hope to again!” One senior gave this comment, I did have trouble finding a date as a freshman. I lacked confidence and also the Freshmen girls were snooty.” One of the reasons guys gave for not dating more was, I tend to shy away from women looking for a MRS de- gree.” The girls here are too religious for me.” Many guys gave money, or the lack of it, as being a factor in the dat- ing or non-dating situation. The aver- age cost of date, including a movie and food, was about $15 (and that doesn’t even include the gas). In reply to the money situation, one female commented Ballgames don’t cost any money.” Although most guys were generally satisfied with the dat- 4 ing situation, most of the girls felt there definitely is a dating problem: not enough of it, or more bluntly, Its the pits!” I don’t think much about it (the dating situation).” There’s not enough dates; some people you can go out with and have a good time and de- velop friendships, but other people have the wrong idea or think you do.” One female complained that if a girl ever turns a guy down for a legitimate reason, he’ll never ask her out again. In reply to that, a male said whether he asked a girl out again depended on how the girl turned him down. If she sounded regretful and hinted that she would like to go later, he’d call her back again. But, if she had to wash her hair or something, that was that.” Since liberation is slow coming to the South and to the Baptist, girls asking guys out is not done-except when so- cial tribe formals approach, and the girls get to take the ini- tiative. One coed reported, A lot of girls get turned down the first and second time around at formal time.” (It was discovered that duck hunting is a bad excuse for not going). Other girls said they didn’t mind having to do the asking. Some guys were afraid how they would feel if a girl asked them out, disregarding the formals. Various reactions from, It won’t bother me at all; I’d even let her pay” to I don’t know; I’d have trouble. I’d probably pay anyway, or at least my part.” It will probably be a while before equality of dat- ing responsibility is reached here at MC, just as it will be with other equalities. Regardless of sex, a recurrent complaint about the dating situation here at MC became obvious: because of the small size of the campus, everybody knows what everybody else is doing, and if a person goes out with someone twice, they au- tomatically become a couple and no one else will date either one of them. The amazing thing is that all of the students interviewed felt there was a problem, and that this prevailing attitude was erroneous and unfair, but few had suggestions as to how the situation could be improved. One senior male student, speaking from his years of observation, remarked, There’s too much integrety on this campus to have any fun dating . . His suggestion was that if people were more secretive in their dating life, fewer people would know and there would be less talk and hence less labeling. Everyone would then be freer to enjoy themselves. However, with the dating rate being what it is, any date is news, and it is virtually im- possible, short of wearing disguises and meeting on street corners, to date without others knowing. The only other sug- gestion for solving the problem was mandatory dating, which does have its possibilities. Steve Thomas and Jane Watkins share a couch in the Hederman Gunter lobby as they watch an exciting T.V. show. Couples Donald Richardson and Angelique McKeithen, Jackie Jones and Ray Massey, and David Oliver and Kim Bronson enjoy togetherness at Su- per Bowl Sunday in Hederman Gunter lobby.

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sippi. Mr. Kellum, a 1968 MC graduate, took Skip home with him and nas acted as his sponsor. So, just a short while af- ter leaving Viet Nam, Skip was en- rolled as a freshman at MC. At first, MC was really tough for Skip, and he had to learn how to study. Now, majoring in sociology, Skip wants to go on to school after graduation and get his Masters degree. Eventually Skip wants to go into social work, but he has no idea where he ' ll live. With the situation the way it is in Viet Nam, he can ' t go back now, even for a visit (he hears from his family by letter every couple of months.). Getting into College in Viet Nam is much tougher than it is here. The ACT or SAT can ' t even compare to the type of college entrance test given there. If a student fails the test, he has to wait a year to take it again. High school is dif- ferent in that a student can have a ma- jor subject and study a certain subject in concentration. In college, all stu- dents are required to learn one foreign language. ooon after coming to MC, Skip made a friend, and this friend was with his girl friend. A short time later, Skip saw the guy, but the girlfriend was differ- ent, and Skip thought something was wrong with his eyes! The quick partner change just isn ' t done in Viet Nam. Over there, any intermingling of the sexes is strictly regulated, and dates that do occur involve taking walks or bike rides rather than taking in movies. In regard to the political turmoil in his country, Skip said that most Viet- namese don ' t want to live under com- munist control. The young people growing up with this unsettled atmo- sphere nave a deep lack of a sense of security, which is entirely understable. Another group of students make up the student oody at MC, but these stu- dents are American citizens raised in other countries, otherwise known as missionary kid ' s or MK ' s. Of the MK ' s , that I talked to, the sentiment was ex- pressed that many people have mis- conception that they all have severe ad- justment problems when they come to the United States when they have not found this to be true. Because of trips home on furlough every few years and close contact with relatives back home, most of them were very adequately kept up with the happenings in the U.S., and hence their sense of culture shock on coming here for college was lessened. Tim Glaze has lived in Argentina most of his life and related that he was always excited about coming to the U.S. for each furlough. Then in 1975 he came back to spend his tenth and elev- enth grades of nigh school in Kentucky. This experience was an eye-opener for Tim, and he was exposed to things he had never encountered before, such as smoking and drugs, even among his church friends. After those years, Tim decided he would have to change his negative attitude toward the U.S. if he was going to make it in college. He chose MC on the recommendation of his brother and MC graduate Steve Glaze and current-student, sister Deb- bie. Originally, Tim had planned to transfer out from MC his Sophomore or Junior year, but now he likes it so much he ' s decided to stay. When asked if he would like to stay in the U.S. now, Tim replied that he could and be happy, but that the matter lay in which ever direction the Lord leads. Right now his major is a toss up between religion and business with computer involvement. Regardless, Tim plans to go into mission work, and perhaps even be a missionary himself. Basically, Tim loved his life as an MK. It ' s adjustable, has been the key phrase for Cindy and Dianne Phlegar. The sisters have spent half of their lives outside of the U.S. due to the fact that their parents have been associated with the mission boards all their lives. Serving as home missionaries in south- ern California until 1967, the Phlegars then applied with the foreign mission board and were sent to Bangkok, Thai- land, where they have been ever since. Both Cindy and Dianne do not feel that coming to the U.S. created any type of culture shock for them, al- though the oriental culture is vastly different. One of the reasons for this may be that Cindy and Diane haven ' t lived with their parents since they were in the seventh and eighth grades, respectively. Rather, when their par- ents were assigned to outlying villages, Cindy and Dianne went to live in an in- ternational community in Bangkok similar to a youth hostel. This hostel is a big house and is home to fifteen to twenty other MK ' s. The school they at- Tim Glaze is an MK from Argentina. Skip Nguyen visits with a Vietnamese friend, Nhan Vo-Van. tended had students from fifty-two countries, with enrollment of around two thousand. This situation was al- most like college, and the Phlegars re- E orted that they had to sign out and ad hours regulations, just like MC. One thing that it did nave that Cindy Phlegar in particular misses is the laundry service. In Thailand, it is cul- turally unacceptable for people, espe- cially whites, not to have maids, and so the biggest culture shock to Cindy has been learning to do her own laundry, which she confessed she let Dianne do most of the time. The young society is much freer in the U.S. than in Thailand, especially the women. While the sisters lived out- side of Bangkok, they had Thai friends, but when they moved to go to school, most of their friends came from the school and they dated people from the school. With the political unrest in this area of the world, I asked Cindy and Dianne if they worried about the safety of their parents. Surprisingly, their an- swer was No. They are confident the government will get them out before any real trouble occurs. They admit that, with coups every year or so, people don ' t really take the trouble so seriously. There were a few times when the Phlegars thought they would be evacuated. Any concern the Phlegars have is for the friends they have in Thailand who will be still there if any real revolution occurs. Thailand is predominately Buddhist, and only 2 % of the 45 million are Chris- tian and most of those are Catholic. The ease and acceptability of con- version depends on many factors: con- version to Christianity is more accept- able for city-dwellers, moderness of the family, and nationality. The Phlegars ' father is in charge of mass communica- tions in Thailand for the Baptists. Dianne and Cindy don ' t feel that they have missed anything by their atypical upbringing, but instead have gained a lot. One of the results is their open-mindedness about other cultures and other ways of doing things. They have loved the traveling they have been able to do, and don ' t intend to ever give that up. Although they do like America, and could live here longer, they admit that they will live in a cos- mopolitan area since they have been in really big cities all their lives. From my conversations with these people, I have to agree with them that they haven ' t missed anything by their unusually or different backgrounds. Rather, I feel I have gained by their sharing with me.