Crete Research Provides Round-the-Clock Learning for UC Students Date: July 19, 2000 By: Marianne Kunnen-Jones Contact: 513-556-1826 Photos by: Lisa Ventre Archive: Research News Hersonissos, Crete -- When urban planning student David White first arrived in Crete with the University of Cincinnati team working here this summer, he was able to take a half day off from work on Saturdays and a whole day on Sunday to enjoy the island culture and sites. Not anymore. As the team nears its July 20 public presentation date with the citizens of Hersonissos, this past weekend and recent weekends have been filled more and more with work. But for 23-year-old White, the labor is worth it. "I think I've learned more on this trip than I've learned from any other one experience," he said. White's main task for the six-week research and learning trip to study mass tourism and its problems has been to assist the project leader, Michael Romanos, UC professor of planning, as a member of the regional development team. He also has been responsible for a large part of the mapping the team has performed, as well as helping to write and edit the regional growth management chapters of the project's final book. He's also working on visual graphics for the Thursday presentation and the book. "I expected it to be a lot of work, but it has been even more than I expected," said the Clermont County native. When the group arrived in Crete, Romanos also appointed White the group's "social director." In addition to his discipline-related duties, White organized a student trip to the island of Santorini for the Fourth of July weekend, a road trip across Crete two weeks age, birthday parties and an anniversary celebration for team leader Romanos and his wife, Carla Chifos, who marked their 10th wedding anniversary last Friday. He compares the whole experience in Crete to co-op jobs he has had in San Francisco, Indianapolis and North Myrtle Beach, S.C. "They are similar in terms of how complicated it can be in the beginning. It's a new job and you don't have much direction at first and you don't know your bosses." White has made a point of traveling outside of Cincinnati for his cooperative education experiences. But Hersonissos, Crete, is by far the longest way from home he has ever been. Before this, he had traveled outside the United States only one other time. His trip, taken with the University YMCA, was only one week in the Dominican Republic. The favorite part of this more extensive overseas experience for White is meeting with the Cretans. "Going into the villages have been the best experiences we've had," he said. For a full listing of UC research related to crete, go to http://www.uc.edu/crete/credef.htm.