|
Volume CXXXII, Number 23 |
 |
SARS virus alters study abroad plans for students
KYLE STALLER
ORIENT STAFF
Although the epicenter of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) lies miles away from Bowdoin in East Asia, at least two Bowdoin students have been directly affected by the outbreak of the flu-like virus while studying abroad in the region.
Both Liz Han '04 and Hilary Fitzpatrick '04 have made significant changes to their study abroad plans in Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, respectively. Han will return home early, opting to write papers instead of sitting for exams, and Fitzpatrick was forced to cancel an independent study in northern Vietnam.
Studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), which is only one bus stop away from the hospital where the first case of SARS was reported, Han flew home to Seoul, South Korea when the University suspended classes a few weeks after the initial outbreak. When classes started up again after two weeks, Han returned from Korea to find that most of the exchange students had already left for home and that all students and faculty were wearing mandatory face masks in enclosed areas.
Additionally, student dorms were under strict infection control policies; visitors were no longer allowed and students were required to bleach out their rooms every few days. Some CUHK students have come down with probable cases of SARS, but none have died thus far.
Fitzpatrick is currently studying with the School for International Training (SIT) in the southern part of Vietnam. She is hoping to complete her independent study, previously planned to take place in Hanoi, in the United States.
Bowdoin's Off-Campus Study (OCS) office has been monitoring the SARS situation since the first Hong Kong outbreak on February 26.
Busy fielding calls from anxious parents about the situation in Iraq, OCS was simultaneously confronted with worries over the SARS outbreak and its effects on Bowdoin students studying in Asia.
"We needed to find out what the programs were doing for our students and what special accommodations can be made for them in these circumstances," said Off-Campus Study Advisor Janet Lynch.
OCS heard from both CUHK and SIT almost immediately after the outbreak and spent a couple of days working with the students and their families in order to make special arrangements.
After a great deal of discussion, both students decided to stay for the majority of the semester. While some schools pulled their students from programs in East Asia, OCS did not have that option. "Bowdoin can't force them to come back. If this were a CBB [Colby, Bates, Bowdoin Study Abroad] program, we may have made that decision, but in this situation, our job is to advise students of their options," said Lynch.
According to Han, the majority of international students that left Hong Kong went against their will, called back home because their colleges had partnerships with Hong Kong universities and had large numbers of students studying in Hong Kong.
Referring to the students' decisions to stay, Lynch said, "The students feel good that they have-with their families-come to a compromise that they are personally comfortable with."
Both Han and Fitzpatrick feel that the severity of SARS has been blown out of proportion by the media. "I chose to stay in Hong Kong because I have thus far loved the study abroad experience and do not actually feel that SARS is such a close threat," said Han. She sees a marked difference between the viewpoint of those in Hong Kong and that of outsiders and the media. Life in Hong Kong has otherwise returned to normal: "It [SARS] has become commonplace in Hong Kong," said Han. "People wear masks, but the streets, clubs, movie theaters, shopping malls, etc. are littered with people going on with their daily business as if nothing has changed."
For students planning to study in East Asia in the fall, OCS recommends monitoring the SARS situation very closely; there is no word yet as to whether the illness will affect these students' travel plans. Although OCS is not involved in students' summer study abroad plans, Lynch knows of at least a couple of students who are currently evaluating whether or not they will study in the region over the summer.
SARS, believed to have originated in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, is apparently resistant to standard treatments and has killed over 300 people worldwide.
|
FastCounter by bCentral |