UH cancels all trips to SARS-infected areas
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
The University of Hawai'i has canceled all university-sponsored trips this summer to areas affected by SARS.
The school administration also is monitoring health advisories in case new areas are affected and additional trips need to be canceled, said Jenny Samaan, director of the Office of International Education.
Chancellors in the university system were told about the new policy in a memo sent Wednesday.
"Any UH student, scholar or faculty member choosing to travel to, or remain in, SARS-affected areas does so at their personal risk," the memo said.
Chancellors also were told that students, scholars and faculty traveling to the university this summer from areas affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome should stay home if they show signs of the deadly illness.
Samaan said she was still gathering information about students and faculty affected.
The Center for Southeast Asian Studies canceled trips to Vietnam and China, affecting about two dozen students and faculty, Samaan said. The University of Hawai'i-Hilo canceled two culture study tours, she said.
And with the announcement today by the World Health Organization that SARS has been identified in the Philippines, a trip there may be canceled, she said.
"Is it disappointing? Certainly. To some people, they have planned their lives around incorporating international study," Samaan said.
Other affected areas include Mainland China; Hong Kong; Singapore; Hanoi, Vietnam; and Toronto.
Trips may be rescheduled next summer, but some students may graduate and not be eligible, said Flo Lamoureux, associate director for the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. The changing situation makes it hard to target trips for areas currently unaffected by the disease, she said.
"Do we buy tickets? Do we do the paperwork? All these things have tons of paperwork," Lamoureux said. "We have been going along on the basis that these programs will happen. If they are canceled, it will be a big disappointment for everyone."
Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.
