And he warned Americans to be skeptical of "man-in-the-street" interviews.

"If I had the misfortune to still live in Moscow and someone walked up to me with a camera and a microphone and asked 'What do you think of Andropov's death?' I would think first of my own life!"

Kalb again

Nikita (Khrushehev) could win you over with his charm and shrewdness. He loved the western press; he used the western press the way we are used in Washington everyday. One of the problems of being an American correspondent in Moscow is that you don't get used enough. You feel uncomfortable. We love to get used, by the top people Khrushchev truly knew how valuable the western press could be...

There was a rumor in June, 1960 that there was going to be a meeting of the Central Committee. Dan Schorr was a CBS correspondent and he said to Khrushchev, Mr. Khrushchev, I want to go on holiday, but my office won't let me go because there's a rumor of a meeting of the Central Committee Could you tell me sir--this is not for a story--I just want to know if I can go on holiday.'

Khrushchev looked at him and said 'Mr Schorr, go on holiday.'

And Don said 'Thank you very much sir, I really appreciate that, thank you ever so much,' and started walking away, thinking he had a big story.

Then he heard this little voice behind him say 'And Mr. Schorr, if we hold a meeting of the Central Committee, we'll hold it without you."

It is almost a cliche now: We are two superpowers poised to destroy each other. But can better-trained journalists, familiar with the language and prepared in academic programs, promote understanding among the common people? Will that understanding filter upwards to the arms-negotiators, the presidents and the premiers?

Shipler, one of the new breed of correspondents (he speaks fluent Russian and attended the Russian Institute at Columbia University) has doubts.

In an interview a day after the Center's seminar, he said, "People were talking about exchange programs yesterday. I didn't want to be a wet blanket, but Americans tend to turn to the right when they visit Russia. There are so many aspects of the system that are frustrating and outrageous....

"When dealing with the Soviet bureaucrats you begin to find yourself reacting in the same way your government reacts. They push you, you push back. You realize if you step back, they'll step forward. There is a kind of bullying mentality that only responds to stubbornness. So you find yourself doing what you don't want your government to do. I'm not sure contact really softens the relationship."

But Shipler, now settled in Washington after 11 years abroad which included stints in South Vietnam and Israel, sees more than just darkness in the Soviet Union.

The eloquent, friendly 41-year-old tells the story of Soviet authorities who confiscated the camera equipment of western journalists as they filmed a hotel fire, explaining that they didn't want "foreigners to laugh at" their misfortune.

"That really says a lot about the way the Russians think the world looks at them, but they are also a warm and kind people who love to take you into their kitchen and talk, talk about ideas.

"Despite the dullness and grayness of the society, there is a certain constant drama as people try to carve our little zones of freedom for themselves."