October 31, 2002

Sister city partnership stems from
ISU international exchange

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Students and teachers from Indiana State University and Tambov State University in Russia have been learning from one another for seven years.

Now, thanks to a sister city agreement signed Wednesday, the communities that are home to those schools will be able to do the same.

"The sister city relationship with Terre Haute and Tambov will allow us to share our ideas and our ideals in many aspects," said Mayor Judy Anderson. "One of my favorite sayings is that 'families are forever' and we are proud to call Tambov, Russia our sister."

Larisa Romanina, lieutenant governor of Russia's Tambov region, signed the sister city agreement for the Russians. After exchanging a hug with Anderson, Romanina noted the symbolism of two female leaders signing the document.

"There is not a single woman who desires war because once she has born a child she does not wish it to be killed," Romanina said. "We are all in a single boat and it cannot happen that some people survive and other people get drowned. So let's go in the same boat of life together."

The United States and Russia share common problems such as terrorist attacks, crime, and drug and alcohol abuse and by working together the two nations can achieve prosperity, Romanina said.

"We have learned how to work the same as you do," said Raisa Kulichenko, director of social work at Tambov State, as she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Robyn Lugar, interim chair of the Department of Social Work at Indiana State.

"By sending our teachers and students here we learned how to train social workers. We also receive students and faculty from Terre Haute. They saw how our people live, how we get through with these problems, how we work and all together we created something important, learning how to improve this work, how to make our life better."

Since its beginning in 1995 after Kulichenko and Lugar met at a social work conference in Philadelphia, Indiana State's exchange with Tambov State has expanded to include such fields as communications, psychology and technology. The two universities have had a formal working relationship for about two years.

Sister city exchanges will focus on such areas as culture, education, economic development, social services, agriculture, government, science research, health and welfare, Anderson said.

Health care, especially telemedicine, and distance education are other potential areas for exchange, Romanina said.

"This is a part of our program that has been growing on a regular basis and it's a wonderful next step to actually have the two communities tied together so that we can explore other ways to collaborate together," said Tad Foster, dean of Indiana State's School of Technology. Foster, Anderson and Lugar visited Tambov in March.

More than a decade after the fall of communism in the former Soviet Union, Russians can learn from Indiana residents about such things as capitalism and democracy, while those in Indiana can learn from Russians about such areas as science and mathematics, Foster said.

"We're still trying to learn how do we teach youngsters about math and science so that they perform at, if you will, a world standard," he said. "There's stuff for us to learn in a variety of realms: in social work and education and in economics."

While it has a population several times larger than Terre Haute, Tambov - like Terre Haute - is in an agricultural region and is looking to expand on its agricultural base to develop new markets, Foster said.

"Each year we involve in the sphere of our relationships new specializations, new faculty and new students," said Nikolai Boldyrev, vice president of Tambov State. "When a new member appears in the family, the family becomes stronger. Today in your family you have got a new member and our family has got a new member, too."

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Contact:
Robyn Lugar, interim chair, ISU Department of Social Work, (812) 237-3428 or sklugar@ruby.indstate.edu or Tad Foster, dean, ISU School of Technology, 237-3166 or tchfost@isugw.indstate.edu

Writer:
Dave Taylor, ISU Public Affairs
(812) 237-3743 or devtaylo@isugw.indstate.edu

ISU Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu