DAILY DISPATCH | MOSCOW — DAY FIVE

	Students earn their chops reporting on the mean streets of Moscow By DARREN FOSTER Posted Tuesday, March 19, 2002; 8 p.m. EST

Students were soon in pursuit of such stories as mail-order brides, adult circumcision or recovering stolen icons.

Our group was cut loose today to pursue story ideas that had piqued their interest since arriving in Moscow five days ago. For some, just finding their way around the megalopolis proved enough of a challenge, while others staved off police shakedowns and gypsy thieves, braved "hellacious" cab rides and struggled with the Cyrillic alphabet.

By 9 a.m., Professor Ari Goldman's suite was transformed into mission control as reporters filed in with all-you-can-eat buffet-filled stomachs to secure translators, schedule interviews and get directions from our guide, Andrei Zolotov, a reporter for The Moscow Times. Once logistics were squared away, the neophyte foreign correspondents set out to report their respective stories. There was some question on how the group would fair on their own in an unfamiliar city and while the degrees of success may have varied, the experiences for most proved to be memorable.

Brian McGuire was still a little star struck after a chance interview with prima ballerina, Anastasia Valochkava, when he ran into Matt Volz on the Arbat, Moscow's famous pedestrian mall. It wasn't long before a couple of police officers approached the two suspicious characters and demanded their passports.

"We have big problem, you must come to the police station," McGuire said they were told. The problem was that they were not carrying their visas, which the hotel had taken during check-in. The officers explained that they could avoid a trip to the police station if they decided to "solve the problem here" in the street. McGuire and Volz soon learned that Moscow police take both traveler's checks and credit cards. The two reporters saved their money and were eventually let go thanks to some smooth talking and stonewalling by Volz, who speaks Russian.

The night before, Jenny Ho, Molly Knight and a part-time production assistant were detained by officers in Red Square for setting up a tripod. Professors Steve Isaacs and James Carey, the Columbia University professors who taught their ethics class, rang in their collective conscience as they debated whether to give the money or go to the police station.

"I just wanted to know when I should start crying," said Knight, who is better known for her work behind the camera. "I've gotten out of many traffic tickets that way."

No tears were shed. Coming to their rescue was Masha Kramarenko, a law student who is a translator for the group, and Nicole Still, who snuck away with the tape of Ho and Knight's daily footage stuffed in her brassiere to protect it from confiscation.

Kramarenko again found herself negotiating on behalf of another Columbia student when Anusha Shrivastava had her pocket picked. We are currently debating whether Kramarenko is a blessing for getting us out of these situations, or if she is just an unlucky traveling companion.

Many stuck to religious themes in reporting their stories but others decided to take a break and see what else Moscow had to offer. Nicole Neroulias and Michael Gartland visited the local offices of a mail-order bride service. Gartland thought he would do an undercover first-person piece about a young man seeking a bride.

"I put on affections like I was a total loser," Gartland said. "I was trying to act as retarded as possible, but still be a plausible candidate." Gartland couldn't bring himself to go through with it and said he would have had a difficult time pulling it off with Neroulias there. "He totally wussed out," Neroulias said. "He just sat there on the couch not saying a word while I interviewed the guy."

Later that night, several students were caught thumbing through "Foreign Affairs," a mail-order bride catalogue which Neroulias brought back to the hotel, which included an "EZ-DO-IT Fiancee visa package" to the U.S. and profiles of eligible Russian women.

Manya Brachear was joined by Matt Volz to investigate a story of intrigue involving the Russian Orthodox Old Believers. A near head-on collision on their cab ride out to an Old Believers monastery was enough to wake up Brachear, who had been spending long nights updating the class web site. Safe and almost sound, Brachear and Volz learned of negotiations for the return of an ancient icon that was stolen from the church and is currently in a gallery in New York.

Even in Russia, Alan Rappeport could not escape Brooklyn. When reporting on a story about adult circumcision at Maryina-Roshcha Synagogue, Rappeport said he ran into "a couple hundred Jewish kids from Crown Heights" who were in Moscow to teach about Passover.

Noah "Bruce" Haglund, always the early riser, went to a local Krishna temple for a 7 a.m. worship service. He spent the day at their compound, which includes a bakery and Vaishnavaya University, a center for studying Vedic scriptures for 25 full-time students and another 200 taking correspondence courses. Before passing out early in the evening, Haglund said the Krishnas believe there is a concerted effort by some in the Russian Orthodox Church to drive the Krishna out of Russia.

After four days of cold weather, the Columbia students enjoyed a surprisingly warm day to chase their stories, but it was also a day of frustrating lessons on reporting in a foreign land. "I was prepared for how cold it was going to be," Brachear said. "Everyone said �Oh Russia, it's going to be so cold.' I was prepared for that. But I wasn't prepared for nobody to speak English."

Apparently socializing in a foreign land can be frustrating as well. At press time, four students were reportedly detained at gunpoint by police on their way back to the hotel from a Moscow pub. All returned to the hotel safely. Stay tuned for more details in tomorrow's edition of "Finding Faith."

Read Anusha Shrivastava's tale of subway thiefs in Reporter's Notebook.

Click here to learn more about the Museum of Handicrafts and Folk Art near the Kremlin in Moscow.