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Grenoble native had easy choice when picking USU, thanks to ski slopes By
Adrianne Bergs Imagine growing up in Grenoble, a town in eastern France, and the site of the 1968 Winter Olympics. The town, in the heart of the Alps, is the sort where college students schedule their classes in the mornings so they can have the rest of the afternoon free to ski or snowboard. Nathalie Moulinier, a native of Grenoble, ended up at USU out of all the universities to choose from in the United States because the senior, majoring in finance, knew she needed to be at a school where there were mountains for snowboarding. Moulinier admits USU was not her first choice for school. "I wanted to go to school in Denver because I have a good friend there, but I had to find someone who wanted to trade and go to school in France. Utah was the closest state to Colorado, so I chose it," Moulinier said. Moulinier and some friends went to Park City a few weekends ago to go to the clubs. She explained that the bars are a lot different here than in France. "I first went to a bar in France when I was 14," Moulinier said. "In France, it is easier for a young girl to get into a bar at a younger age than for the boys because they look a lot younger. When I went to the bar for the first time, they didn't even ask for identification." The clubs and bars here in the United States usually shut down around 1 a.m. and in France, Moulinier said, they are usually open until 5 or 6 a.m. Moulinier is excited about the upcoming ski season. "I want to sign up for a snowboarding class at Beaver Mountain next semester and snowboard as much as I can." Along with snowboarding, another one of Moulinier's hobbies is following Le Bourse, the French stock exchange, daily. She also follows the financial updates on Wall Street as well. When asked about how the transition from the French franc to the euro is being handled in Europe, Moulinier explained that some of the older generations are having a more difficult time than the younger dealing with the new currency. "Fraud is now a big threat in our country. The government is very worried about the new changes in currency because of the opportunity to launder money. Some crooks went around to older people's homes and said they were selling 20,000-euro bills for 15,000. The people would give them the money, thinking they were getting a good deal, and then find out later they had been tricked." According to The London Evening Standard in April 2001, some of the problems associated with the new currency are "Timing: some people think the starting date -- when so many people are away on Christmas and New Year holidays -- a bad idea. Practical: there are numerous potential snags, for example: every phone box and vending machine from Finland to Greece will have to be changed to take the new coins. Many small shops haven't even thought about the changeover. Calculating change in euros for customers will be time-consuming. Forgery: to appease national sensitivities, the notes have been printed in every euro-zone country except Luxembourg and may not all look the same ñ an inconsistency already being exploited by counterfeiters." Will it affect Americans? Yes. The most obvious way is that they will only have to change money once if they travel across Europe. Our economy will reflect the euro's fate. It will be heavily influenced by what happens to the coins and notes in the pockets across the European continent. Anji Neilsen, a junior at USU, had the opportunity to travel with a group of friends to Europe last spring break when airfares were quite reasonable. "I don't remember exactly what the exchange rate was from the franc to the dollar, but I remember the franc being able to buy more in France than the pound could when we were in London." Neilsen continued, "That would have made things so much easier for us if there was just one sort of currency we needed to carry while traveling through Europe." On Jan. 1, less than a month away, the euro arrives in France. All precautions are being taken to protect the new bills and coins. Moulinier is currently enrolled in an international finance class where this topic is discussed frequently. One thing that particularly surprised Moulinier was how American students dress on campus. "For the first few weeks of the semester, I would wear a skirt or dress pants to school and my roommates would compliment me every day and ask me where I was going. I would tell them, 'I'm just going to school,'" Moulinier said. "Students dress so casual here. You would never see students talking to a professor with a hat on in class. That is very improper," she continued as she sits properly on the stool with her legs crossed and good posture. Moulinier's caramel-colored hair and fair complexion compliment her nicely pressed black trouser pants and sky blue button-up shirt, which is considered a normal outfit for the University of Grenoble, where she studied astrophysics for two years before deciding to switch her major to finance. Her family is excited for her to come home for Christmas break, which means Moulinier will be there to welcome in the New Year and the euro. A batch of high-quality fake Italian euros made by a mafia group has already been seized by police in Sicily. Is this foreshadowing of the chaos yet to come? "No," Moulinier says. "Lots of people thought that theY2K bug was going to hurt many businesses and shut down our economy, and that didn't happen. The euro will be a major change in the economy all over the world, but French citizens are not that concerned about the changeover." "It will be interesting to see what happens when the new currency is implemented," said Nielsen. Nielsen plans on making another trip to Europe in the summer with her family. She is interested to see how things are running in the country with the new currency. Moulinier plans on going home to Grenoble this summer to work. She is optimistic about the euro and feels the new currency will only make the European Union stronger and more unified.
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