The UTD Mercury

Issue date: 10/18/04 Section: News

The "World Citizens Guide" was published by BDA and students from SMU´s Temerlin Advertising Institute. This study abroad tool will be distributed to 800 member universities of NAPSA, including UTD.

To combat increasing anti-American sentiments in foreign countries, the "World Citizens Guide" will soon be available to UTD students who study abroad.

The passport-sized booklet - designed to make the 170,000 students that study abroad each year better ambassadors for the United States - was published by Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA) and faculty and students from SMU's Temerlin Advertising Institute.

At a town hall release of the booklet Oct. 6 at SMU, BDA and SMU representatives, as well as the student authors, presented the guide and fielded questions from approximately 50 faculty, students and press.

Director of the Office of International Education Sarah Spreda said UTD is a member of NAFSA and should receive copies of the guide this year.

She added that UTD currently has 15 students studying abroad, and that she's excited about the forthcoming guides.

The guide contains a "100 people in the world" diagram that puts Americans in the world perspective. If the world consisted of 100 people, the guide says, only five would be American, 30 would have enough to eat and 32 would Christian.

BDA will send 200,000 guides this year to the 800 member universities of the NAFSA: Association of International Educators and Student Travel Abroad (STA), according to the press release.

BDA founder and president of DDB Worldwide Keith Reinhard said he hoped the guides would help young people to better represent America in the world.

"This may seem a small step toward winning back friends for America," he said. "But who better than our young people to be ambassadors representing what's good about America? By learning to be good and sensitive citizens of the world ..., American college students are a ready-made diplomatic corps to help change perceptions overseas."

UTD alumna and Executive Director of BDA, Cari Eggspuehler, also spoke at the town hall meeting. She spoke of her experience working at the U.S. Department of State. She said there were four contributing factors for anti-American sentiments - U.S. foreign policy, the pervasiveness of American culture, the external perception that foreign cultures are at an educational disadvantage, and the "collective American personality."

"(They think) we're loud, brash, decadent, faithless - that we have no morals," Eggspuehler said. "But if 160,000 young Americans took just five seconds to care a little bit more, to listen a little bit more and be receptive, it will make a difference. This guide (is providing) a huge bridge to open that dialogue."

The student authors said the design for the booklet was intended to be nation-neutral to keep it in a world context.

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