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from the issue of July 14, 2005
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Bombings fail to halt UNL travels
BY KELLY BARTLING, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
The July 7 terrorist bombing in London left recent visitors from UNL somewhat heartbroken, but upcoming international travelers unfazed.
Despite a heightened security alert, upcoming student Study Abroad programs will continue as scheduled, including a July 10 trip to Italy by the College of Engineering and Technology for 25 students, and a July 17-Aug. 13 trip to Oxford University through the Nebraska at Oxford program, involving 77 students. Oxford is some 50 miles from London, and its UNL director Martin Holmes was in Oxford July 7.
"Safety and the state of international affairs is a consideration for students studying abroad, as it is with all travelers in this day and age," said Barbara Couture, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. "At this point we have no reason to change our study abroad plans."
One UNL student was known to have been in London July 7 for a study-abroad program, and it was quickly determined that she was safe. Other students were thought to be in London in preparation for the Oxford program or for other travel unrelated to study-abroad programs, but there were no reports of any UNL students or faculty in the areas affected by the bombings, according to Christa Joy, UNL Study Abroad coordinator. Joy said many students on study programs plan to travel to Great Britain while in Europe.
For the most part, feedback from students traveling abroad this summer has been positive following the news about London, Joy said. Information, advice and education about security has always been a component of study-abroad preparation for students.
"In our study-abroad orientation we include consular information sheets, as well as any travel advisories or warnings by departments of state," Joy said. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the number of students studying abroad has increased. "Last year we had 550 students studying abroad; this year we expect around 600."
For art history professor Gail Kendall, who returned May 30 from a visual arts study event in Paris and London, the images of London were "heartbreaking."
"We saw instantly when we looked at the routes hit, how lucky we were to not have been there," she said. "But you don't have to have been to London to feel heartbroken. The students who I talked to were shocked and grateful that we weren't swept up in it." Kendall accompanied 21 students on that trip. She will go again next year.
She said the sentiments from colleagues and students were to not give in to terrorism.
"There's a way in which you deal with these extremist irrational beliefs and behaviors, and that's to not let them paralyze you. They need to not cancel these study-abroad trips."
As of this July 8, no students have cancelled or changed their study-abroad plans, nor were any expected to, Joy said.
GO TO: ISSUE OF JULY 14
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