Word: malia
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...people who have avoided these restrictive influences and has actually completed a trip to Russia is Martin E. Malia, assistant professor of History. Under the auspices of the Ford Foundation and a group of University libraries, including Widener, he spent five months in Russia to arrange for book exchanges between the United States and the USSR. He had success in his mission. And, more important, he had the chance to talk with Russian students and teachers in their own language over an extended period of time without the "cooperation" of Intourist. His findings are significant largely because they illustrate that...
...Malia's most valuable student contacts came in Moscow, where he spent almost three months. Normally it is very difficult to get into the university there, which has an enrollment of about 8,000 students, most of whom live in university dormitories. One needs a written pass to attend lectures or to visit the dormitories, although at the other universities Malia found he could wander around by looking as if he belonged there...
Because he was from a university himself, Malia managed to make many acquaintances at the University. He found that every one was eager to talk, even when they found out he was a foreigner--and an American, at that. They were all curious, anxious to hear about the United States. They even put a premium value on American cigarettes...
...longer Malia stayed in Russia, the more people he met who criticized openly many individual aspects of the Soviet system. They would think and say things, both in public and private, which they knew quite well they were not supposed to do, although in the final analysis, according to Malia, almost all of these people are basically loyal, convinced of the correctness of the system...
...they were curious, especially concerning the standard of living in the West. Such questions as these were frequently asked Malia: "What is it like to live there?"; "Are your automobiles better than ours?"; "What does an average worker earn?"; "What can you buy with what the average worker gets?" Even taxi drivers were curious. Many asked about the traffic in the United States, and whether there was more of it than in Russia. Most of them, Malia says, knew there was more in America...