STAFF EDITORIAL | STUDY ABROAD PRICING GOUGES STUDENTS | SEE FORUM, PAGE 4
STUDENT LIFE
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 VOLUME 129, NO. 6
Students express concern over study abroad costs BY BRITTANY FARB STAFF REPORTER Due to a recent investigation of the study abroad industry conducted by the New York State attorney general’s office, universities across the country are scrambling to prove the legality of their study abroad programs. At Washington University, students planning to go abroad are concerned about the costs of the programs. While students are usually guaranteed to pay the same tuition while abroad, this is not always the case. “I really don’t think it is ever the case that it is truly the same amount,” said senior Tony Lett, who studied at King’s College in London last semester. “I definitely think Wash. U. makes a profit off students going abroad. At the time, paying top dollar didn’t really bother me. This was my only time in London so I was going to make the most of it.” After hearing about a friend’s unfortunate tuition experience at another school, junior Molly Sandler admitted being cautious when she goes abroad to Chile. Sandler plans to study at the Pontificia Universidad Catolicade de Chile next semester. “I have a friend [who] went abroad through another school other than her own and she got ripped off because that school’s tuition is cheaper,” said Sandler. “She had to pay regular tuition even though it was more expensive.” According to Priscilla Stone, director of overseas programs in the school of arts and sciences, University tuition is charged to all students on approved programs for which University credit is granted. “By charging all students Washington University tuition rates we provide
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greater clarity for parents and students, eliminate concerns related to foreign exchange rates, minimize financial incentives in the choice of study abroad programs and emphasize academic priorities,” said Stone. “This payment arrangement guarantees that whatever financial assistance or aid the student receives from Washington University will continue to apply wherever they study.” Currently, other American universities operate several study abroad programs offered to university students. For example, Duke University manages a consortium of schools that sends students to China. According to Stone, students will never pay another university tuition other than Washington University. “If a study abroad program’s tuition is higher than Washington University tuition, students are charged Washington University tuition and not the higher external rate,” said Stone. “Conversely, any difference in what we pay as tuition to the foreign program providers reverts to Washington University and is used to help recover administrative costs required to provide faculty oversight and student services for our programs abroad.” Sandler, however, remains aware of possible discrepancies that may arise when she receives her tuition bill. “I think that it is probably more expensive [to study abroad through Washington University] than doing it on my own,” said Sandler. “But Wash. U. also absorbs some of the other costs along the way.” Although Lett was originally angered by this procedure, he later understood the reasoning behind the University’s procedure.
Governor, mayor commit to fight global poverty
SCOTT BRESSLER | STUDENT LIFE
Governor Matt Blunt speaks at the ONE campaign against poverty on Thursday, Sept. 4 in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge. Missouri is the 9th state to sign the ONE proclamation which spotlights challenges associated with global poverty and disease. BY SAM GUZIK SENIOR NEWS EDITOR This Thursday morning, Governor Matt Blunt and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay convened on the Washington University campus with other prominent members of the St. Louis community to declare their solidarity with the ONE campaign in the fight against global poverty and disease. “As Americans living in the twenty-first century, we enjoy an unprecedented level of freedom and prosperity that really is unequaled in the world,” said Governor Blunt. “But prosperity and freedom are not the only qualities that distinguish us. There is also a can-do attitude that leads more American to service than any other nation in
the world.” Blunt and Slay signed proclamations declaring Missouri and St. Louis a state and city of ONE, respectively. The declarations represent a commitment to the values of the ONE Campaign, a coalition of prominent non-profit organizations and millions of Americans in the fight to improve the quality of life of people around the world. Missouri is the ninth state to declare itself a “State of ONE,” joining Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine and Vermont. St. Louis is the second city in the state to align itself with the movement, following New Madrid, which made its proclamation in early August. The University Alliance of
Students Against Poverty (ASAP) and the ONE campaign worked together to bring the event to campus. “This event really echoes our mission to reach out and unite people working to fight the same cause no matter what their background is,” said sophomore Stephanie Koh, a member of ASAP and one of the speakers at the signing. Koh worked with members of the ONE campaign over the summer to plan the event that invited politicians, educators and religious leaders. Multiple speakers highlighted the significance of holding the proclamation on a college campus. “What’s so exciting about this is the student involvement,” said Jack Oliver, co-chairman of the ONE board. “At time when
Americans have become so cynical about politics, this issue is creating an opportunity show that we can make a difference.” Both Blunt and Slay underscored Oliver’s remark by ceremonially presenting their signed proclamations to Koh. The signing also worked to bridge political divides, as Blunt and Slay respectively belong to the Republican and Democratic parties. “Someone asked what the governor and I were doing in the same place at the same time, and I said, ‘We have a common enemy, and that’s poverty,’” said Slay. Other speakers at the event included Reverend Clinton McCann, an Evangelical professor
See ONE CAMPAIGN, page 2
Students build Ecuadorian chocolate factory BY DAVID SONG NEWS EDITOR
COURTESY OF JAKE LEVITAS
The group crossing the Napo River, an Amazon tributary, near Shandia, Ecuador.
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At Washington University, the chocolate factory is more than something from Roald Dahl. Jake Levitas and Mason Earles, seniors in the College of Arts & Sciences, have been working with a cocoa cooperative in Ecuador to build a chocolate factory. “Last fall we took a semester off and traveled in Ecuador,” said Levitas. “When we got there, we volunteered for Kallari, a local, organic cooperative based in the Amazon, with about 800 farming families. We were there for six to eight weeks and after getting to know the organization, we realized they wanted their own chocolate factory.” Initiated in 1997, Kallari is comprised of over 30 rural Amazonian communities, with around 50 families each. Currently, Kallari rents out a factory
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away from the cooperative and the chocolate produced there goes to chocolatiers based in Europe and Canada. However, the costs of hiring an architect and a business consultant were prohibitive for Kallari; Levitas and Earles decided that students at the University could help with that problem. “We came back in the spring and we wanted to fi nd students interested in this project,” explained Earles. While they originally sought students from each of the University’s schools, Levitas and Earles eventually found five architecture students, one business student and two students in Arts & Sciences interested in working with the cooperative in Ecuador. Once all students were organized, they set a deadline for spring break and began working on architectural and business plans for the factory. The University’s Undergraduate Research office and the
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School of Architecture aided them with $8,000 in funds. That money served to bring Kallari Director Carlos Pozo from Ecuador to the United States as part of an educational tour with St. Louis chocolatiers. “Part of the money also went toward bringing [Pozo] to St. Louis,” said Earles. “We visited Bissinger’s Chocolates in St. Louis, a local chocolate company, to talk about the chocolate industry.” Despite relatively few resources and little experience with which to operate, the team managed to present their plans at the University Undergraduate Research Symposium in the spring. After receiving several grant awards from the University, seven team members returned to Ecuador over spring break to present their work to local communities. “We worked with the Skandalaris Center for Entrepre-
See CHOCOLATE, page 2
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