UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 14, Page 5
December 9, 1993
University surplus equipment to help students in new democracy

     Thanks to the University, business students in Minsk, Belarus,
(formerly part of the Soviet Union and now an independent nation) can
augment their computer skills. Instead of using cardboard keyboards, they
now have computers and typewriters to work with, according to Alexander
Billon, professor of business administration.
     After it was determined that the equipment was outmoded for use on the
Delaware campus, the decision was made to donate the surplus machines to
the International Management Institute, Belarus (IMI-B). The gift of 17
computers and 18 typewriters was made possible by a joint effort of the
University; the Eurasia Foundation, which paid to ship the equipment to
Texas; and Universal Shipping, which made arrangements for the computers to
be sent by sea from Texas to Belarus.
     In a letter to The Eurasia Foundation, Kenneth R. Biederman, dean of
the College of Business and Economics, wrote that the college has had a
number of cooperative activities in the past, including faculty exchanges.
He noted that in the future he hopes to initiate additional student and
manager exchanges.
     "We believe that the training of managerial resources is important to
the successful economic reform of Belarus, and therefore, have the highest
regard for the educational efforts of the International Management
Institute-Belarus," Biederman said.
     The director of IMI-B, Victor I. Tereshchenko, has ties with Delaware.
In 1990, he attended the Summer International Business Institute (SIBI)
while Belarus was still part of the Soviet Union and has made several
visits to the campus since.
     Billon, who taught at Kiev under a Fulbright grant in 1991, has
visited Belarus as a lecturer on many occasions. He lectures on topics of
American business management to managers who are students at IMI-B and also
to younger students at the Economic Lyceum, a business-oriented secondary
school.
     "The 1,700 students in the lyceum are bright and worthy of support,"
Billon said, "but they have no equipment and no funds are available to
purchase any. So they have made do with cardboard keyboards to become
familiar with computers. The equipment, which arrived in Belarus in
November, will be used by IMI-B and the Economic Lyceum in their training
programs."
     An industrialized nation of 10 million people east of Poland, Belarus
is in transition. "The old system where orders came from the top has
collapsed, and the new, more democratic system has not taken hold.
Managerial skill and knowledge are critical factors in winning the economic
struggle that is important in a fledgling democracy," Billon said.
     He said the country has changed in many ways since his first visit.
"During my first visits, I was told I was not to answer questions after my
lectures, and only carefully selected students were allowed to attend. My
movements were all monitored. Now it is a much freer society where you can
pretty much do what you want," he said.
                                                  -Sue Swyers Moncure