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Page 12-Sunday, April 11, 1982-The Michigan Daily
The Michigan Daily-Sunday,
Study abroad offers fun, learning
Dive into another woi
By Kristin Stapleton
If your summer plans include a con-
tinuation of academic pursuits, you
might consider studying in an at-
mosphere quite different from that of
Ann Arbor. Opportunities for study
abroad are waiting to be discovered by
the student in search of an adventure as
well as an educational experience.
The first place for the serious student
to start looking for study abroad
programs is at the Overseas Oppor-
tunities Office in the International Cen-
ter adjacent to West Quad. An advisor
there will be very willing to help the
prospective traveler sift through the
mounds of material available about
study abroad.
BECAUSE THE NUMBER of oppor-
tunities available for summer study is
so great, Jim Gehlher, an advisor at the
office, asserts, "There's virtually
nothing a student can't do, if he or she
wants to."
Gehler advises, however, students to
plan their study experience very
carefully to avoid disappointments.
There are several types of programs,
he said, and each has distinct advan-
tages and disadvantages.
One of the most popular forms of
study abroad is a University sponsored
program. The University currently of-
fers ten programs of summer study
abroad including two new ones-one in
Paris, and one on a kibbutz in Israel.
THE UNIVERSITY SPONSORED
programs are advantageous because
they provide in-residence credit. This
avoids the problems of transferring
credit. The programs are a little more
expensive than some foreign university
sponsored programs. Similarly,
programs of other American univer-
sities are generally more expensive.
Daniel Mattern, a University student
who spent a summer in Austria on a
Xavier University sponsored program,
said that there are advantages to going
with an American university.
"It's easier to get credits if you go
through an American university," Mat-
tern said. Choice of a program,
however, "depends on the student's
purposes," he said.
Mattern explained that the program
in Salzburg, Austria, offered him
"rigorous" training in German and
political science. He added that the
wide variety of activities available in
the program "sort of competed with the
study aspect of it."
ANOTHER SORT OF program
available to students is offered by
American Institute for Foreign Study
and the Council on International
Educational Exchange. These are
organizations offering summer and
year-long study opportunities in a
variety of foreign countries.
One Michigan student who par-
ticipated in an AIFS program to London
described her experience as mind-
expanding. Carolyn Gillespie said,
"Study abroad is worthwhile because it
decreases your myths about other
places."
As far as the AIFS program is con-
cerned, Gillespie thought there was not
enough contact with advisors.
DIRECT ENROLLMENT IN a
foreign university is another option, but
Gehlher said this is rarely possible
because most foreign universities are
not open in the summer. "Study in the
summer is almost an exclusively
American phenomenon," he said.
The Overseas Opportunities Office
also has a long list of year-long study
abroad programs. Many of these and
the summer programs are still open to
applicants.
Regardless of whether a student
wishes to study abroad for a year or a
summer, in Budapest or Florence, for a
worthwhile, exciting experience it is
important to plan ahead.
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By Janet Rae
It's the shock that hits you first, no
matter where you're diving. If it's the
Pacific, that frigid water creeping into
your quarter-inch wetsuit does the
trick. But if it's the Caribbean, your
body notices only the weightlessness as
your eyes experience that first shock to
the senses. In either case, it's an un-
mistakable feeling of embarking on
something distinctly foreign and eerily
beautiful. Scuba diving is an all-sensory
experience unlike anything the
everyday world of dry land has to offer.
I was born and raised on the shores of
ideal scuba diving territory - coastal
Los Angeles and California's Channel
Islands - without being aware of my
good luck. Fortunately, since I return to
the beach every summer, I have been
able to make up for some of my lost
time.
BUT MY FELLOW "natives" remain
ignorant of their opportunity. For some
strange reason, beach people in general
just don't scuba, despite their notoriety
for the variety of physical activity they
put themselves through in the name of
health and pleasure. Growing up on the
beach you learn young you can't really
qualify as a true native of the coast un-
til you have mastered the art of surfing,
skateboarding, or at the very least,
volleyball. I was, and will remain, a
deviate. I dive.
Southern California offers some of
the best diving territory in the world.
Internationally, enthusiasts of the sport
sing the praises of the sights surroun-
ding the Channel Islands and lavish en-
vy on those who have the good fortune
to live near such a paradise.
I was on a dive boat last summer off
Grand Cayman Island in the British
West Indies, preparing for my first ex-
perience in Caribbean scuba. As the
boat churned toward one of the more
popular reefs, fellow divers tried to ex-
plain the little dangers mingled with the
wndersd of what I was about to see.
"EELS," ONE whispers in awe.
"Moray eels down there the size of your
body. And barracuda too."
"Don't scare her," insists another.
"Really, now, they won't hurt you," he
soothes.
"I know," I reply. "We have them at
home."
"THE COLORS. That's what's unique
down here. You'll see little slugs, they
call them nudibranchs, every color of
the rainbow."
"We've got nudinranchs, too," I
respond.
"Fish that'll swim right up to your
mask to say hello," pipes up another
diver.
"AND THOSE." I sigh.
The other. divers begin to look an-
noyed and insist on knowing where I do
my diving. Ripples of awe pass through
the gathering crowd when I tell them
the most popular dive spot is Catalina
Island. One explains that, second only
to Carribean diving or the Red Sea, he
has wanted to dive Southern Califor-
nia's Channel Islands. Apparently, my
scuba training ground is a paradise in
my own front yard.
So why do people shy away from this
most enjoyable of sports? Non-divers
who snorkel will present a number of
excuses - too expensive, too much of a
hassle with all the equipment, too
dangerous, takes too much strength -
the list is endless, whether valid or not.
Dily Ph
THE COAST OF Grand Cayman Island in the British West Indies provides excellent oppor
scuba diving.
The process of becoming "certified" -
the term used for a diver who has com-
pleted an accredited training program
- is surrounded by rumors and sup-
positions among those people with little
understanding of the sport.
SCUBA - AN acronym for "self-
contained underwater breathing ap-
paratus" - was not really a developed
sport until the 1950s. Early scuba divers
were a hardy lot by necessity. Their
swimming muscles had to be toned to
compensate for lack of safety features
and buoyancy that could drown a
physically unprepared person.
Training programs were an exhausting
challenge which featured several mile-
long swims and half-hour drills of
treading water, in addition to instruc-
tion on use of the scuba equipment.
As the spo
novations wer
practically a
scuba, regard
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