SARS Provokes Concerns Within Campus Community

During a season when many consider allergies and the common cold to be the plague, Columbia administrators and students--as well as health officials worldwide--are worrying about a more pressing situation.

This spring introduced Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a severe form of pneumonia, to the vernacular, and in conjunction with the global repercussions of the disease, the Columbia campus is facing major decisions regarding the health safety of its students, faculty, and staff.

Spencer Chang, CC '06, applied to Columbia's Summer Language Program in Beijing earlier this spring and was accepted, but said he will not be going to China this June.
Having heard about the severity of the disease close to the time when he received his acceptance letter, Chang investigated the SARS outbreak by reading news articles and updates from around the world. His deadlines for filing his program deposit were extended, but he finally decided that he could not ignore the facts.
Chang informed the School of Continuing Education that he would not be participating in the program last Thursday.

"The night before I made my decision, I read a report that the virus had spread to Beijing," he said. Chang is one of three students who have decided not to participate in the program because of the virus' presence in Beijing.

Administrative officials at Columbia will meet today to discuss their concerns about SARS. The mostly likely outcome of that meeting will be the postponement of their decision to either continue or cancel the program, sources close to the decision say.

"As of right now, the program is still scheduled to take place," said Frank Wolf, dean of the School of Continuing Education.
Dr. Lening Liu, resident director of the Summer Language Program in Beijing, indicated that he and his colleagues are monitoring the SARS outbreak in Asia extremely closely.

"If the situation gets worse, we will have to cancel the program. We cannot risk the health or the lives of our students," he said.
A pre-departure meeting is scheduled for May 6, so the decision to cancel or keep the Beijing summer session will have to be made by then, Liu said.

There is a possibility that the program's organizers will conduct a survey to see if the 52 accepted students would, in the event of cancellation, be interested in taking a summer session at Columbia instead. Liu doubts that many students would be interested in that, though, because "students who apply want to be abroad and immersed in the culture."

If the summer language program continues as scheduled, four students from the College of William and Mary will be joining the Columbia group. William and Mary is the only college in the nation to have cancelled its study abroad program in China.

Dean Wolf emphasized that officials from Tsinghua University in Beijing, the site of the summer program, have assured him that the state of public health in Asia should not alarm Columbia's administrators or students. Those officials have not advised Wolf to cancel the program.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that individuals who are planning nonessential or elective travel to specific places in Asia should consider postponing their trip until further notice. Dr. Jane Bedell, director of Health Services at Columbia, echoes that recommendation, advising students to wait until the virus is contained or until more is known about SARS.

"I can't imagine that anybody's studies abroad can be considered essential travel. I really think that it would be better to postpone those plans," Bedell.

Some foreign students native to regions of Asia where SARS has spread say that communication with their families has given them inside information on the problem. Many of the students have decided to delay their summer trips home.

Karen Tsui, CC '04, is from Hong Kong and said that her parents have told her that "everybody on the streets is wearing a mask." Tsui has decided to stay in New York until August, at which time she plans to travel to Hong Kong to see her family. "My family definitely is very concerned," she said.

Jennifer Yu, CC '03, is also from Hong Kong. "Everyone is really conscious. People don't really leave the house unless they have to," she said.

Yu will return to Asia to work for an investment bank after she graduates later this spring. She has watched as the airline and tourism industries' markets have plummeted in recent weeks, and she says that travelers are only boarding flights into and out of Asia when they absolutely must. Those departing from Hong Kong are required to have their temperature taken before they leave the airport.

Both public and private schools in Hong Kong are closed. "Both of my brothers are receiving their assignments online, and school administrators are not sure whether or not they should extend the school year or add extra hours to the school day once classes resume," Tsui said.

In addition, a private school in northwestern Beijing announced yesterday that one of its students is believed to have contracted SARS; the elementary school has suspended classes indefinitely.
SARS, which affects the lungs and respiratory tract, is moderately contagious. Only those who have recently traveled to Asia or had close contact with someone who has developed SARS have been affected by the disease. The main signs and symptoms of SARS include a fever greater than 100.4 Fahrenheit as well as cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing.

"I think that SARS is a small--but not insignificant--risk for Columbia because there is so much travel between Columbia and Asia. We send a good number of students and faculty to that area every year," Bedell said.

Columbia and the New York City Department of Health are working hand-in-hand, Bedell said. If there were an outbreak on campus, she is confident that cooperation would continue. The DOH, she says, is the leading agency; if an emergency situation arises, Columbia will do whatever is necessary to comply with the DOH's orders.

Over 3,200 cases of SARS have been diagnosed in twenty-three countries. 154 people have died from the illness, which translates to about 4% of the reported incidents worldwide.

In the United States, there are 193 suspected cases of SARS, none of which have resulted in death. The state of New York has the second-highest number of diagnosed cases in the country, following California.

In New York City, there are eight suspected cases of SARS. Patients range in age from 1 year to 91 years, all have recently traveled to Asia, and only one is hospitalized. As a precautionary measure, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has issued several alerts to area hospitals asking them to immediately report any illnesses suspected of being SARS.
Since late February the CDC has been working with the World Health Organization to investigate outbreaks of serious pneumonia in Hanoi, Hong Kong, and the mainland of The People's Republic of China. Although SARS was first reported in March among people in the Guandong Province of China, Hong Kong and Vietnam, the disease is believed to have been active--yet undiagnosed--since November of last year.