Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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D;urig BY BEIY %1ODRUFF Easing of Soviet and Western ten0ion was evident to Dr. James - R. Durig, dean of the School of Mathematics and Science, during his recent two-week stay In Rus, sla and Estonia. Dr. Durig, who was in the Sovi et Union presenting a joint paper with Dr. Guerman Zhizhin, a Rus sian scientist who spent three months at USC last fall, said that "the very fact that we were al lowed to have this conference in 1 Estonia (part of the Soviet Repub. lic) is evidence of tensions easing and the Republic's attempts to in crease tourism." "When the European Congress K on Molecular Spectroscopy met in 1966, we requested to hold the '67 conference in Russia. The request was turned down then, but we were allowed to hold it there this year."1 The conference met at the Poly technical Institute in Tallin, Eston ia, which Durig said was about ' 40 miles from Finland." He said Tal lin had been untouched by wars and was a ' century-old city that the country was restoring com pletely for a tourist attraction." "rallin is very different from Russian cities like Moscow and Leningrad. The people- there were very friendly and anxious to know about Western culture," Durig said. "Although the city was about the same size as Columbia, they only had one large department store." "Most of the goods were sold In small shops and their quantity was very limited. While I was there, a small shoe store got in a shipment of work shoes, and 100 people lined up to get them. I have a picture of of 84 people lined up in front of an ice cream place waiting to get an ice cream cone," he said.. Another difference Durig brought out between Russia and Estonia was the clothing. "The Estonians were very well-dressed and wore Western styles. One of the ladies in the group went to a fashion show STIUD] Pizz SPAGH Serving Thui Located at acre Belleves ind said the styles were compara >Re to Paris." While in Tallin, Dr. Durig went 'to what Dr. Zhizhin told me was he only night club he knew of in ;he Soviet Union." The program :onsisted of some ballet, dancers, ind a signer who did nine songs ;hat were popular here about a rear ago; four of them were in 3nglish." Most entertainment in the Re ublic consists of classical music oncerts, dining out, ballet, and Dr. Jame At The a H4 ETTI__ with garlic, bread and chef u iny one dinner - get one free sday 3P.M. 1 the intersection of 37 ss from the Ramaa Tensions old western movies. Dr. Durig said that while he was there he saw five short filnis, three of which were "pure propaganda" and the other films explained cultural aspects of Estonia. Language was not much of a problem, Durig explained, because an interpreter met him as he got off his ship to take him to the ho tel, and the hotel had its own inter preter. "Most people in Russia are able to speak some English," he s R. Durig IGHT uIse $ .9 alad. Vill Midnight 8 and I-26 [in Easing In said, "I was able to ask people on the street directions and receive un derstandable answers, at least." Although Durig said that it was difficult to travel and visit some places such as research centers and universities without "a lot of red tape and advance notice," he did visit a "collective fish farm" (can nery) around Tallin. "The. farm employed around 3,700 people and made large pro fits, which went towards building schools for the workers' children. The collective itself was a complete living unit. They had housing, med ical facilities, day care centers, and hairdressers. The director is elected by the workers every three years, and even the most trivial jobs pay about $200 a month. However, the workers do apply for the jobs and can be fired if they don't work well during their trial period," Durig said. After a week in Tallin, Durig went to Leningrad and Moscow to visit the universities and research centers. "The universities there center more on undergraduate work and are not as well-equipped as state universities are in the U. S.," he said. "But most scien tific work goes on in the research centers, which are extremely well equipped and staffed by Ph.D's." Durig said that Leningrad was a beautiful city and one thing he noticed was that there were very few cars. "Most public transporta tion is on buses and taxis. Cars are very expensive- the cheapest is a $3600 Fiat, which is almost two years' salary for a lower-class work er." One of the things that bothered Durig most, he said, was "the ina bility to get information about the Western world. The only English newspaper he could find was a communist worker paper printed in New York. "When the superson ic jet crashed in Paris, no announce ment was made until three days la ter, and then it was one paragraph buried on the next-to- last page.9" He also said that wherever he EVERYTHING FOR MACRAME' DECOUPAQE CANDIE MAKING All Kinds of Crafts Five Points Handicrafts 610 Harden Street Phone 254-6122 Easy To Open Gamecock Charge Account *100 (Limit) ae BRITTON Russia ient in the research centers and u-, niversities, he was strictly guarded. "One institute director who guided me was open about the budgeting and problems of the research, es pecially producing artificial pro tein." "The women in Russia are ra ther plump and big-boned--proba bly from a starchy diet. Since the country has 19 million more wo men than men, the women do jobs that they usually wouldn't do in the U. S. I saw several women bricklayers and women doing real labor on a road crew," Durig said. "The clothing in Russia is also very drab and of rather poor quali ty. One evening when I was walk ing, I was approached about five times within a two-block area by people wanting to buy my tie, pants, shoes, and coat. One girl even came up to me and said she would fix me up with a friend who 'could show me a nice time' if I would sell her my tie and coat. I didn't take her up on the offer." Durig said that the black market in Russia does a thriving business, ?specially in the money exchange. 'he official exchange rate is very poor, he said, but there were many shops and bars that took only for eign money and were looking for tourist trade. "Hotel prices also varied with nationality. It costs an American much more to stay in the same ho tel than it would cost a Russian. At my hotel, I was charged $29 for the room, while the Russian scien tists paid only $3.50 for a similar room," he said. "Prices in general were much higher, though. A man's suit was $150, an umbrella was $22. Hous ing, however, is very cheap. An a partment runs from $12-$16 per month, including utilities. But the rooms are very small, and you have to justify getting more than one room per person. If you wanted to buy an apartment, though, you would have to pay 40 per cent lown and 15 per cent a year until it was paid off." As Durig left Russia, he said the security efforts were beginning "to get to people." "The airport is bighly guarded and security there is very tight. The army takes you to the plane to make sure every body gets on the right one. Wait ing in that army bus made every. body feel pretty nervous." AMATH tuiter -SALE 25% OFF INNER CITY QLADRAQS 2016 GREEN STREET (AT FIVE POINTS