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A SAFER WAY TO LEARN
By Richard
Petz
American students who study abroad might be safer overseas then they are on their own campuses.
With about 125,000 American students studying in other countries during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and even more abroad now, is it possible for them to be protected? According to Duleep C. Deosthale, PhD, Assistant Dean for International Programs, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, enrollment in the abroad program, “has gone up, and up, and up.”
Currently, Marist has 95 students abroad, which is the largest number ever, these students are studying in 17 cities in 10 countries. The recent events around the world haven’t deterred students from signing up for the program, but it has made them more determined, said Deosthale. “Those students that really want to go have already mapped it out.”
The question remains though, how can Marist, and other institutions like Marist, keep their young travelers safe thousands of miles away? One way is through information that the U.S. Department of State provides. Alerts are sent to schools and posted on their websites and have three levels: Advisory, Warnings, and Evacuation.
Another practice that colleges and universities practice is that they only allow their students to go to areas that are deemed safe.
Deosthale said that special security actions are in place if something were to happen in a host country, but that he couldn’t share them for security reasons.
Corin Girird studied abroad last Spring in Leeds, England and will be working in Munich, Germany over the summer.
Girird said that she never felt unsafe or threatened because she was an American. In fact, “As an American most English people had an image that we were unstoppable, even after the attacks.” “The display of American flags on cars and houses made us look cocky to the outside world.”
Ron Coons who studied to Tokyo, Japan last Spring said that as a foreigner he felt that he was singled out as a target to exploit, but being American didn’t have anything to do with it. “Once I got to Tokyo my host parents told me not to go to certain clubs and areas of the city.”