SEMO establishing Cuba study program

While most Americans legally can't set foot in Cuba, some Southeast Missouri State University students could be visiting the island nation as early as next fall with the blessing of the United States government.

Peter Gordon, a marketing professor who directs international business programs at Southeast Missouri State, is setting up a study program to take students to Cuba to learn about the culture, politics and business practices of that nation.

Most Americans are effectively barred from traveling to Cuba by U.S. Department of Treasury regulations prohibiting them from spending money there.

Southeast had to get federal approval to offer the study program. The university recently obtained a two-year license from the U.S. Treasury Department.

"If you go to Cuba and buy a cup of coffee, you're in violation of U.S. law," said Gordon.

But thanks to federal approval, Southeast now joins 15 other American schools that operate study programs in Cuba, he said.

"It's a unique opportunity," said Gordon, who expects to lead a delegation of Southeast business, political science and foreign language faculty to Cuba next spring to lay the groundwork for the study program. "Americans are basically banned from going to Cuba without U.S. government permission."

The United States has no direct flights to Cuba. Southeast's participants will have to travel to Cuba via a connecting flight from Mexico, Canada or some other country, Gordon said.

Federal approval for the study program comes with its share of regulations. Detailed financial records must be kept of such academic trips. Trip participants are allowed to spend no more than $200 a day in Cuba.

Gordon said the spending cap won't be a problem given the exchange rate.

The university is planning for a weeklong study trip to Cuba that could involve perhaps a dozen students. Before leaving, Southeast students would spend weeks learning about Cuba.

The trip would include programs at the University of Havana and briefings at the Canadian and possibly other foreign embassies in Havana. The United States doesn't have an embassy there.

Gordon said the program in Cuba would be patterned after study-abroad trips the university has made to Mexico and Europe. Students who participate likely would receive three academic credit hours either in political science, business or foreign language.

The students will pay their expenses, which could total around $1,000, much of it for airfare, Gordon said.

Hoping to go

Southeast senior and marketing major Zack Drozkowski said he'd like to make the trip. He said it would be a chance to see Fidel Castro's Cuba.

Drozkowski believes Cuba will make major changes once Castro dies. "Their whole economy is going to change," he said.

Gordon believes the expense will be well worth it, positioning Southeast graduates for future trade with Cuba. Gordon expects the United States eventually will lift the trade embargo, a move that he says will send American tourists and businessmen flocking to the island.

Michelle Dimarob, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's Washington spokeswoman, said Southeast didn't go through that office to obtain permission. However, Emerson visited Cuba this year and is spearheading the effort to open the Cuban market to Southeast Missouri agricultural exports.

Canada and European nations already do big business with Cuba. The nation's unspoiled beaches and Havana's nightlife are a big draw for tourists and those hardy Americans who defy federal law for a chance to see a forbidden land that's only 90 miles from the Florida coast.

Like Drozkowski, Gordon wants to see Cuba while it's still a communist nation.

'Totally different'

"To talk to people living under that economic and political system is fascinating," he said. "It is the place to go to see a totally different political and economic system right on America's doorstep.

"Fidel Castro has been in power for over 40 years. He is one of the most fascinating international leaders, known to virtually every American," said Gordon.

"To be able to observe first-hand the failures and some successes of their system is a great academic and cultural opportunity," he said.

Leslee Pollina, a professor of developmental psychology at Southeast, visited Cuba last year as part of a delegation of child development experts.

Pollina is thrilled by the prospects of the new study program. Pollina said seeing how Cubans live gave her a new appreciation of the United States.

Cuba, she said, lacks basic freedoms and material goods. Food is rationed. Roads and factories are crumbling. "Most of the housing hasn't been repaired since 1959," she said. The American cars on the roads date back to the 1950s before Castro came to power.

"People down there love American dollars because they can buy things on the black market," said Pollina.

American banking regulations prohibit the use of credit cards in Cuba. "Everything is cash," she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123