Western Kentucky University - Talisman Yearbook (Bowling Green, KY)

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David Bond were all new to David but he said he would gladly endure the French differences if he could go back. Through making adjustments and com- parisons between her native Austria and the United States, Christina Schon Wood said she developed likes and dislikes about the society in which she is living. She said she has also developed an empathy for other foreign students and the problems they encounter. “| enjoy the laissez-faire feeling,” she said, “Americans are the most friendly people of anywhere.” Christina described Ameri- cans as very warm and not hesitant about addressing a foreign person, noting that manners here are relaxed, while manners in Austria are connected to old tradition. Small differences that Christina noticed included the mannerism of saying “excuse me” in America. “At home nobody notices when a person has to leave the room or sneeze, and that’s a politeness because he’s embarrassed anyway,’ said Christina. Perhaps what Christina misses most about Austria aside from her family is the wide variety of foods, especially highly spiced ones. “When | first came over here, | wrote home to my parents that food here is like in the filling station — regular for hot dogs and hamburgers and super for steak.” The English major has definite opinions about the differences in family lifestyles that she has noticed in the two countries. Chris- tina considers “‘too much free time’ as one of the ‘‘minuses” of the freer American soci- ety. She said she believes this is ‘where the drug problem takes the overhead.” ‘’Kids have too much free time away from home and take everything on good faith and then get stuck,” said Christina. Reviewing her own experiences made Christina more aware that foreign students often have difficulty in knowing how to be- have and often embarrass themselves. One difficulty is in finding their way to class- rooms. She said she remembers her first se- mester at Western when she stayed in a graduate class for two weeks until the teacher informed her that she was in the wrong classroom. The reason for her mis- take was that 7’s and 1’s are written dif- ferently in Austria. Although Christina said she had never been mistreated, she added that dark- skinned foreign men had more difficulties if they didn’t speak the language very well. “Girls are a symbol of helplessness,” said Christina. She said that in classrooms it is almost impossible to give a fair grade to a foreign student because their difficulty with the language limits their vocabulary for express- ing their knowledge. ‘Teachers try to be fair to everyone, but it’s not really fair to the foreign students,” said Christina. She be- lieves teachers should give more oral tests, to foreign student s. Christina also was surprised to find that instructors treat students as friends in the United States. “In Austria, students would never dare to address a teacher unless in the classroom or office,” said Christina. The first time Richard Hopkins had ever been away from home for more than two days was when he left Australia and came to Western. “| came to Western to run track,” said Richard, “and because the cli- mate is not extreme.” Richard said he was prepared for what Western would be like from what a track re- cruiter had told him. He said, however, that he didn’t know much about America. ‘| thought of Kentucky as a place of race riots, bourbon and race horses,” said Richard. Describing some of the similarities and differences between the United States and Australia, Richard said the countryside is very similar, but added that snow was a new experience. Never seeing snow before, he was rather disappointed when it did come. “It is cold and wet and one snow is just like another,” he said. Florida weather was a little more to his liking. Attending a track meet in the Southern State, Richard said,” Everybody stayed in a i Ay ; Christina Schon Wood massive hotel, wore Bermuda shorts and got sunburned.” While he said he believes the United States as a whole is ahead of Australia, Richard added that he thinks Kentucky is five or six years behind the times. He used the University’s dorm policy as an example of this “backwardness.” “| don't like the policy of requiring fresh- men and sophomores to live on campus,” said Richard. “It’s a lot cheaper if 15 people share an apartment.” He said in Australia guys can have girls in their room and play record players as loud as they want. The friendliness of all the people impress- ed me very much,” said Richard. He men- tioned the time that a girl and her parents invited him to spend Thanksgiving with them when they heard he would not have anywhere else to go. “Everyone is smiling all the time,” said Richard, “‘but once in a while, | know some- body has got to be false.”’ Richard Hopkins

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et et ee tion in Hong Kong is good and cheap.” In reference to job opportunities, Karen said, ‘It is hard to get a job there because so many people need them.” Even in fac- tories where there is so much mass produc- tion of goods, a decent job is hard to secure. Karen said she liked Hong Kong mainly because it’s close to the ocean and moun- tains and offers a variety of scenery. Patrick Ndoma was in Nigeria deciding what he wanted to do with his life when a letter came from a friend who was going to school in the United States, at a place called Bowling Green, Ky. Patrick’s friend told him about Western and its advantages and sent Patrick a book showing various scenes from Kentucky. He said he was very impressed with the school’s campus and decided it had the right qualifications in economics, the field he is studying. Patrick, a senior, will graduate in May. After graduation he intends to stay on to at- tend graduate school at Western. After completion of his graduate work, Patrick plans to go into governmental work. “It is my high hope and my high dream to be able to work with the (Nigerian) govern- ment,” said Patrick. The diplomatic corp is where his “high dream” lies. “Someday | would like to be able to represent my government,” he said. If he succeeds, he would like to go to either the United States, West Germany, Great Britain or France. Does he regret coming to Western? “No, | really don’t have anything to re- gret,” said Patrick. “'! find something new to like every day. | have met many very wonder- ful people and Christians to assist me.” Even if Patrick doesn’t succeed, he will - be in there trying. His favorite philosophy is: “People who never make mistakes are those who never do anything.” “| love fried chicken,” said Zaibunnisa Begum when she was asked what she liked the most about the United States. Zaibunnisa is a sophomore from South India and she is working for an associate Patrick Ndoma Zaibunnisa Begum degree in Library Science. She became interested in attending Western when she visited her brother (Dr. Ahmed) last year. “The people at Western make the campus more beautiful,” said Zaibunnisa. “They are so peace loving and friendly.” When Zaibunnisa first came to the United States, she was fascinated by television. “The only place we have television in India is in large cities,” said Zaibunnisa, “And only the rich people have refrigerators. Watching television is like sitting in a movie theatre,” she added. Zaibunnisa said she likes the “Six Million Dollar Man” because she thinks he is attract- ive, and her favorite soap opera is “All My Children.” Zaibunnisa finds college life very different from the colleges in India. In India, a student studies three courses and he graduates in three years. Classes are different also be- cause in India students do not have contact with instructors. Zaibunnisa said she thinks most of her classes are interesting. According to Zaibunnisa, the girls who live in dorms or “hostels” are not allowed to leave their rooms after 6:30 p.m., and dating is unheard of. “Attendance is taken daily in the dorms,” said Zaibunnisa. If she decides to stay in the United States after graduation, Zaibunnisa said her brother will choose the man she will marry. “When | first came to Western, | heard the girls talk about their boyfriends and | couldn't under- stand what they meant by the word boy- friend,” said Zaibunnisa. ‘| thought they were supposed to marry their boyfriends; but, my girlfriends in the dorm told me | was wrong,” : she added. “| like just about everything in the United States,” she said. “I think it’s fun to walk in the snow, | like pizza and hamburgers, the freedom, and the education system; but, | don't like hot dogs — no, | don't like hot dogs.” “The French students couldn't believe that we have milk or Coca-Cola with a meal,”’ said David Bond, who spent the past year studying in France as a part of WKU’s ex- change program. “| guess | went because it was something different and it would be fun to do,” he said. Studying and living at the University of Paul Valery in Montpelier, France, proved to be different for this American. The campus resembled the one in Bowling Green, but the residences were separated from the campus and belonged to a complex of dormitories. Most students lived off- campus. “Only the poorer students could live in the complex because it was cheap,” said the Virginia native. “I lived in the com- plex because they allowed the exchange students to live there too,” said the Vir- ginia native. “We had maid service in the dorms and they cleaned every other day,” explained Bond. Other benefits of dormitory life in France included open visitation, no restric- tion on liquor and private rooms for every- one. ‘There were many Ssuitcasers, too. It was deserted on weekends just like here,” said the senior. “In general, the French dress much nicer than we do,” he explained, ‘and they were always conscious of how they looked; much more than we are.” The manners of the French when wanting to eat were less than their concern of how they looked, according to David. “At meal time, they wouldn't line up but would push a lot until they were inside eating. A person trying to eat at any of the cafeterias would get smashed in the turmoil.’ David said it was fun at times to be in the “big squeeze.” He said he did miss having hamburgers. “We registered for classes at the begin- ning of the year and paid 100 francs (about $20), said David. The only other expenses for the exchange student involved paying for books, room and board. “The normal class met three hours a week, two hours a day and one hour on another day,” he explained. Not all classes, however, meet this often. Some only met one and a half hours a week. The size of classes, ac- cording to David, ranged from small English classes of 18 to 45, to large sociology class- es of 150 to 175. ‘The classes were hard because the professors treated us (exchange students) just like French students,’ said David. “The French think all Americans are rich, have huge cars, and are imperialistic pigs,” he said. Watergate really caused some prob- lems in the United States, but in France they believed it was only a scandal. The French television had something just about every night on it. “At Georges Pompidou’s funeral,’ said David, ‘the television cameras kept showing Nixon instead of the funeral proceedings.” He explained that he couldn't find out too much from the French because of their reservations toward the ‘‘stereo- typed” American. “People could understand me pretty much, but the English taught to the French wasn't the informal type of English taught in the United States,” he said. Commenting further, David said he felt accepted on cam- pus, but only as an exchange student. The school, food, life-style and country

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es s 2 a ee . . . Ls Checkpoint Because a sealed envelope containing $500 al- ledgedly was handed a basketball prospect whom Western was trying to recruit, the Toppers’ hopes of winning honors in the National Collegiate Ath- letic Association (NCAA) or the Ohio Valley Con- ference (OVC) this season were dashed. The incident occurred in mid-May when Zach Adams, a Louisville Male High School product, visited the campus. According to the report the University forwarded to the NCAA, assistant bas- ketball coach Ralph Baker offered Adams a sealed envelope he had been given by a Western support- er. The money apparently was supplied by the Western fan. At the time, Western was already serving a two-year probation meted out by the NCAA for earlier recruiting violations. “The University sent a complete report of its - investigation of the Adams incident to the NCAA -on June 5, The story was leaked to the newspapers ‘17 days later. o As a result of the University’s investigation, Baker was relieved of his coaching duties and - given teaching responsibilities. He later left the University. The NCAA ruled on the case at its regular meet- ing in August. It decided that Western's probation, ‘which was supposed to end in January 1974, should be extended through August 1975. -. Other punishment was meted out. Head coach Jim Richards was severly reprimanded, although the University had declared that neither Richards nor any other member of the athletic department had knowledge of the Adams incident. Alumni and other supporters were warned to steer clear of recruiting efforts in the future. Finally, Western's basketball team was prohibited from appearing in NCAA-sponsored television games. In an official statement released by the Univer- sity on the heels of the NCAA's verdict, school of- ‘ficials expressed their “disappointment” in the decision, saying they had hoped their full coopera- tion in turning themselves in would clear the school. But they added that Western would do everything in its power to comply with NCAA regulations in the future. In years past, the OVC’s regular-season cham- pion has automatically qualified to represent the league in the NCAA tournament. But this year, the OVC decided to change things. It decided to hold its own tournament, with the winner representing the OVC in the NCAA competition. The NCAA later ruled that it didn’t care whether or not Western’s team played in the OVC tourney. If the OVC sent another team to the NCAA affair, the NCAA seemingly was satisfied. At this point, the OVC decided to get into the act. OVC bylaws contain a clause (that had never been used) requiring all presidents of the OVC uni- versities to review the case when an OVC member is put on probation by the NCAA. The presidents have the power to impose additional penalties, should they deem them necessary. The presidents apparently felt they were necessary. In late November they announced that West- ern’s team would be barred from competing in the OVC tournament. The presidents ruled that since Western couldn't play in the national tournament anyway, the Toppers shouldn’t take up space in the preliminary meet, which includes the top four teams in regular-season play. From Western’s view, that wasn’t the worst part of the decision. Western also was declared in- eligible for the OVC basketball title, which is determined by regular-season competition. The OVC presidents originally had decided that West- ern’s games should not be counted in the OVC standings. This would have meant that Western would have finished the OVC season with a 0-0 won-lost record, and no school would have been able to count a victory over Western toward the league title. It would have left Western with a slate of exhibition games. Feeling that this was too severe, Western ap- pealed the decision. The OVC athletic directors met (with Western’s John Oldham absent) and lightened the penalty so that Western’s games would be counted in the standings, even though Western could not win the league crown. “| think the OVC has set a precedent that has never happened before in any conference that l know of,” said Oldham. He was referring to the fact that the OVC imposed its penalties after the NCAA had meted out its punishment. Had the OVC imposed its penalties beforehand, the NCAA action would not have been necessary