BY TONY PERRY
 Los Angeles Times Service

 SAN DIEGO -- Even as relations between the United States and Cuba are
 strained by controversy over the fate of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez, a U.S.
 university president is leading a delegation to Havana this week to sign a student
 exchange accord with the University of Havana.

 San Diego State University President Stephen Weber and other college officials
 making the trip say they do not expect to be swept up in the Elian controversy.
 He said the State Department told them there is no reason to cancel their trip,
 though they were advised to keep a low profile.

 Other U.S. colleges have sent students to Cuba for several weeks or during
 midsemester breaks. But this agreement marks the first time a U.S. college will
 be sending students for at least a semester.

 Weber and faculty members at the school's international business program are
 eager to add Cuba to the list of international sites where San Diego State
 students take courses. The program has sent students to 125 foreign locations
 on five continents.

 ``The students understand where their future is: It's global,'' Weber said.

 The San Diego State side of the program will begin modestly, probably with three
 students going to Havana next academic year. But Weber envisions it growing
 quickly to 30 students or more.

 Unlike exchange programs at some colleges, San Diego State takes a
 sink-or-swim approach. Students are not accompanied by professors from home.
 They live in dormitories or with local families and attend the same classes as
 local students.

 ``We don't want any hand-holding for our students,'' said Steven Loughrin-Sacco,
 co-director of the university's Center for International Business Education and
 Research. ``We want them to go through the cultural shock that is a natural part
 of the progress of studying abroad. We want them to solve their own problems.''

 Started 10 years ago, the international business program at San Diego State has
 725 undergraduate students, making it the biggest such program in the United
 States. Starting next academic year, every student will be required to study at an
 international site.

 As yet, the agreement does not commit the University of Havana to send
 students to San Diego, although that will be a key part of the conversations.
 

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald