The Facts

Web site: www.cuc.edu

Location: Takoma Park, Maryland seven miles from U.S. Capitol Building

Environment: residential neighborhood in suburban Washington, D.C.

Undergraduate enrollment: 1,030 41 percent male, 59 percent female

Annual cost for tuition, room, board, and fees: $21,933 (add about $900 for books)

School year: two semesters, late August to early May

Call for more information:1-800-835-4212

E-mail: enroll@cuc.edu

Nearest Taco Bell: about one mile

Squirrel population: prolific

Famous local landmark: Washington Monument (and the White House, Capitol, Smithsonian, etc.)

Situation: First weekend of the school year. You're just started college. You have a date with a really incredible person you met in the cafeteria when you didn't know anyone and you just ended up sitting together. (You both prefer Big Franks to Veja-Links, you've always wondered what's in Special K loaf, and neither of you went to academy. A perfect match.)

So now you're going out, but you have only $10 in your pocket. What to do?

You could hitchhike to McDonald's for fries and milk shakes.

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Columbia Union College

Situation: First weekend of the school year. You're just started college. You have a date with a really incredible person you met in the cafeteria when you didn't know anyone and you just ended up sitting together. (You both prefer Big Franks to Veja-Links, you've always wondered what's in Special K loaf, and neither of you went to academy. A perfect match.)

So now you're going out, but you have only $10 in your pocket. What to do?

You could hitchhike to McDonald's for fries and milk shakes.

Or let's say you're at Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland. You could try these ideas:

* Climb 555 feet to the top of the Washington Monument.

* See Russian rockets, moon dust, and the world's first airplane at the Air and Space Museum.

* Rollerblade down Pennsylvania Avenue and wave at George W. Bush.

* Meditate on priceless works of art by Titian, Rembrandt, and Degas in the National Museum of Art (or get some sidewalk chalk and scribble your own pictures).

* Track down your senator and lobby him or her for a National Aid to Poor College Students Day.

* Read a million or so books at the Library of Congress.

And the nearest Taco Bell is waiting for you only a mile from campus. By the way, most of the great activities above won't cost you a thing. (Sorry, you still have to pay for your tacos, but I think the drink refills are free.)

CUC's location in a Washington, D.C., suburb throws you right into the middle of awesome opportunities. For instance, I bet you want a job someday. But it's hard to get a job unless you've had experience, and you can't get experience unless somebody gives you a job. That's life, right?

The cooperative education office at CUC helps you get experience while you're in school. Your r‚sum‚ will look pretty impressive if you've worked at one of these places: IBM, the White House, Smithsonian Institution, Sears, CIA, Children's Hospital, Peace Corps, U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, IRS, DuPont, the Gap, Naval Research Laboratory, or National Institutes of Health. Some students have also worked at the nearby Seventh-day Adventist World Headquarters.

CUC business professor Nancy Kluge thinks that Washington, D.C., provides incredible resources for learning about life in the real world. She says, "Where else could you take a field trip to the Australian Embassy and discuss international trade with the ambassador?"

Speaking of international things, did you know that CUC sent out the first Adventist student missionary? The CUC motto, "Gateway to Service," also inspires students to feed the homeless, adopt grandparents, tutor children, and minister to thousands of needy people right in their own city.

Do you like to sing and travel? You could try out for the Columbia Collegiate Chorale or the New England Youth Ensemble. In 1998 the ensemble performed in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Other activities at CUC include a gymnastics team, pre-law and pre-medicine clubs, an NCAA Division II athletic program, and an active business club.

And if you decide on CUC, you'll be able to come visit us at Insight! (Our office is about an hour's drive from the college.) Trent, a designer here at the Review who used to schnazz up our pages, has even taught a graphics class at CUC. He says, "It's the best college I ever taught at."

Of course, it's the only college he's ever taught at, but he really does think it's pretty neat. You'll have to stop by CUC to find out for yourself.

Becky says that if she had gone to CUC, she would have spent all her time in Union Station in downtown D.C. eating ethnic food.