Local college students can get firsthand look at European sights

Some of Western Europe's most interesting historical sites and most important contemporary institutions will become living textbooks for a group of Las Vegas college students this spring.

On May 22, Community College of Southern Nevada Political Science professor Lee Miller will take between 20 and 40 students from the community college and UNLV to several Western European cities to learn first-hand about the significance of dramatic social, political and economic changes now shaping that part of the world.

They will return June 5.

During the 15-day educational odyssey, students will visit such places as the canals of Amsterdam, the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, NATO headquarters, the Central Bank of Europe, the building where Anne Frank hid while writing her diary and the 600-year-old University of Heidelberg.

Though touring will be an important part of the trip, its primary reason is to allow students to see for themselves what they read about in their textbooks and newspapers.

"Rather than lectures, they will be able to experience it, to ask questions of officials," Miller said.

The 30-year-old professor said one of the unusual aspects of the trip is that students will be able to earn a total of four hours of college credit, two hours each for classes in economics and political science.

Deadline for signing up is Feb. 19. Anyone who signs up after that will have to pay a late fee and will be put on a waiting list.

Miller said there is room for about 40 students. Cost is over $2,500, not including books and tuition.

For more information call Miller at 651-4809.

Brooke Lamb, a junior majoring in political science at UNLV, is looking forward to the trip.

"I've always wanted to go to Europe," Lamb, 20, said. "This is an opportunity to see things I would never have access to. If I just went with friends, I wouldn't be able to talk to officials."

Miller said the group will "meet with government officials at some of the most important political and economic institutions in the European Union."

He said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., helped arrange meetings with officials with such key organizations as NATO, the International Court of Justice, the European Central Bank, the European Union and others.

Lamb, an activist in Amnesty International, said she will be particularly interested in the war crimes tribunal at the International Court, where Yugoslavian war criminals are being prosecuted.

In addition to political and economic discussions at various governmental institutions, students will visit Amsterdam and learn more about the differences between the Netherlands and the United States when it comes to social welfare and drug policies.

Students will be required to write a research paper on the trip when they return.

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