No luck finding out why Berg went to U of Ok.

[MGKrebs]

It's probably nothing, but I thought it might be worth looking into at least.

Supposedly he went to Drexel (PA), Penn (PA), Cornell (NY),and...Oklahoma?? Does Oklahoma specialize in something that Penn State doesn't? It just seems a little odd.

Anyway, I can't find anything. Not even exactly when he was there. Anybody got better search tools than me? (And a little curiosity?)

[Justice]

1. Cornell Press Release - Engineering Student/Studied in Uganda

http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/May04/Berg_statement.html

He spent the Spring 1998 semester in Uganda through Cornell's Study Abroad Program.

[htuttle]

6. That link seems to be too busy at the moment, but...

When I asked google about Uganda, Study Abroad, and engineering, I found a whole lot of information about a scholarship program called the 'NSEP', the National Security Education Program.

Apparently the NSEP is funded by DoD and the CIA, and has (or had) a service requirement where you had to put in a few years with them after you finished your education.

Obviously, not ALL study abroad programs to Uganda are funded by the NSEP, but a whole lot of them seem to be (judging by google). I'm interested whether they mentioned on that link whether Berg's study abroad program was NSEP-funded.

[MGKrebs]

9. Hmm. Well the press release says

"he studied development issues".

It seems Cornell, currently at least, does their study abroad programs through something called School for International Training, and there is a program called "Development Studies".

http://www.cuabroad.cornell.edu/programchoices/regions.asp?recid=326

http://www.sit.edu/studyabroad/africa/uganda.html

This program costs $13,000 for 13 weeks.

[tishaLA]

2. Not that this helps, but

Penn is not Penn State. Penn is the University of Pennsylvania, my alma mater, and it's an Ivy League school, like Cornell. Drexel is immediately next to Penn in Philadelphia and it has lots of engineers, etc. Those are both local universities for Berg. I don't understand why he went to OK either.

[RoyGBiv]

3. I was trying to figure this out yesterday...

The only commonality I found was engineering. OU has a pretty good engineering school as do Penn and Cornell.

BTW, it was U of Penn, not Penn State. Both Penn and Cornell are Ivy League. Drexel is affiliated with Penn, so that would make sense there.

A person might choose OU if s/he wanted to study meterology or history of the American West, but I'm pretty sure we can rule that out as important to this.

[ender]

4. drexel isnt affiliated with penn...

i dont know where you got that idea.

[RoyGBiv]

10. Should have been more specific...

Sorry.

Some of their programs are affiliated with or cooperate with each other, notably the Naval ROTC program. That idea is available on NROTC's website, for example.

And the main thing is that they're so close. A student going to one then going to the other doesn't seem odd.

Transferring to Cornell and especially to Oklahoma seems odd.

[range78]

5. oil

OU has a school of petroleum engineering, or at least they did in the past, lots of the oilfield guys from the middle east studied there.

[bobbieinok]

7. may be 'relevant' - religious right colleague told me Muslim

international students at midwestern (eg, OK) schools have been working at converting students to Islam for many years.

According to colleague...

...many US students are looking for a belief system, a cause

And of course, colleague then says the Muslim converts then become 'Islamic fundamentalist terrorists.'

I thought this was all some sort of religious right, RW far-out conspiracy theory.

Then I met a young man after the start of the Afghan war. He said the family was very happy his brother (cousin?) had returned home before the war started. Why was he in Afghanistan, I asked. Oh he converted to Islam in college as the result of some students he got to know. He went to Afghanistan to learn how to be a better Muslim.

[beyurslf]

8. Does Oklahoma specialize in something that Penn State doesn't?

Answer: Yes, football :)