By Sherry F. Pruitt

Two Arkansas State University employees saw sights they had never before seen and had experiences they'll never forget this summer in Germany.

Economics professor Dan Marburger and his wife, Carleen, undergraduate programs and outreach coordinator set out to spend a month at the Business and Economics Summer Term program at Duisburg University in Duisburg, Germany.

Dan Marburger said he went abroad primarily to teach students at Duisburg University.

"I taught an applied microeconomics class where the students there had aspirations of continued study in an English-speaking nation," he said. "So, they wanted someone who spoke English as his native tongue to go in and do some guest lecturing."

In place of applause, students would rap their fists on desktops to show their appreciation, added Mrs. Marburger.

The BEST program was developed by ASU College of Business Dean Dr. Jan Duggar and Dr. Dieter Cassel, professor of economics and BEST director at Duisburg University.

"The main part really is a student exchange where American students can go and study for a 5-week summer session," Marburger said.

Mrs. Marburger added that year-long programs also are available.

The program provides invaluable experiences for American students, as well as German students, the two said.

Traveling to an overseas university is an opportunity for students to be away from home and to understand about living in Germany as opposed to being a tourist, Marburger said.

American students study things they normally would not even consider, the professor said, such as the European money system.

"For example, one of the days that we were there they had a presentation on the European Monetary Union ...," he said. "It's sort of like a more complicated version of the (Federal Reserve). The Fed only has to worry about America; the EMU has to somehow coordinate activities that don't make any of the European members mad."

Participants earn credit hours for their time, Mrs. Marburger said.

German students who attend ASU are sort of absorbed into the Master of Business program in the College of Business, Mrs. Marburger said.

"We had two graduate students here last year ... from Germany," said Mrs. Marburger, who works in the office of the dean in the College of Business. "They were here for the year. We met up with them again when we were in Duisburg."

While attending Duisburg, ASU students pay the same tuition they would at the Jonesboro campus, she said.

"The program was small this year because the theory is -- a lot of Americans were scared away by the fact that Germany was opposed to the war in Iraq, but as we can attest, it's not an issue," Marburger said.

Eight Duisburg University students are expected at ASU in the fall, Marburger said.

The Marburgers were able to travel by train to various locations in close proximity to Duisburg University.

Marburg was at the top of their itinerary because that's where the Marburger family originated. While there, the two saw beer, a restaurant, a bank and a newspaper, all with the Marburger name.

"That was the pilgrimage we had to make," Mrs. Marburger said.

Marburger pointed out that the town has historical significance.

"The brothers Grimm studied at the university there ... . It was for a long, long time sort of a Mecca for people suffering from illnesses because they thought they could be healed there ...," he said.

The Marburgers said traveling to Salzburg, Austria, where they went on a Sound of Music tour, was their favorite part of the trip. Marburger presented a paper at a conference in Salzburg, which is nestled in the Alps.

Escaping the Mozart influence was impossible, they said.

They also visited King Ludwig's Castles outside Munich, concentration camps at Auschwitz and a Roman archeology park in Xanten.

The Marburgers' 11-year-old daughter accompanied them.

"International travel is just a great experience," Mrs. Marburger said.