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U.S. students traveling dangerous
road in India went beyond 'normal' risk
Our beautiful daughters, Sara Schewe and Jenna Druck, pictured
in "The perils of studying abroad" Cover Story (Sept.12),
were among the students killed in India. Until it became life-ending,
they were having the adventure of a lifetime.
Don't be too quick to pass our misfortune off to chance. They
died on somebody's watch. The University of Pittsburgh's Semester
at Sea program put our kids on a treacherous road at night.
They gambled with our daughters' lives, and we lost them forever.
The U.S. State Department and Embassy in India tell everyone
the road they traveled is not safe at night. The Grand Trunk
Road to the Taj Mahal is filled with danger. Travel abroad
involves risk, but this was not "normal" or acceptable
risk.
This kind of institutional denial and arrogance continues
to place lives at risk. We are involved in a lawsuit that
is our attempt to ensure changes in the systemic problems
of study-abroad programs. Would you, for example, consciously
send your children traveling across the Atlantic Ocean on
a ship that has had a fire that killed five? In July 1996,
only months after our daughters were killed, the ship that
carried more than 500 students across both the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans had a fire that resulted in five crew members'
deaths and passengers being airlifted due to smoke inhalation
("Transportation safety chief: Student cruise ship a
potential fire trap," News, Thursday). Would you consider
that "normal" risk?
On Wednesday, after 651 more students set sail on yet another
"voyage of discovery" the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
printed a story quoting the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) chairman as "bewildered and concerned"
about safety conditions aboard the Universe Explorer. "I
can't believe that responsible administrators at the University
of Pittsburgh would permit this if they knew of the questions
there are," said James Hall. Frankly, neither can we.
Students such as our daughters, anxious to embrace the world,
should be allowed to study abroad without having to put their
lives at risk. We expect study-abroad programs to thoroughly
investigate safety issues and to incorporate the necessary
reforms to eliminate unnecessary risks. It is their moral
and legal duty to care. Not one more beautiful young man or
woman need die on their watch.
Anne and Charles Schewe, Amherst, Mass.
Karen and Ken Druck, Del Mar, Calif.
USA Today
9/19/97
Daughter victim in bus crash
We would like to correct the gross negligence of the Cover
Story "Perils of Studying Abroad" for omitting our
daughter, Cherese Mari Laulhere, as if she never existed.
Our daughter was among four college students killed on March
27, 1996, when her bus overturned on a highway in India. Cherese,
21, had been studying overseas on a program called Semester
at Sea, which is sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh.
We were in shock to find that our daughter was not included
in the story and disagree with the story's contention that
the accident occurred after a "last-minute scheduling
mix-up." In fact, we believe the scheduling change was
made weeks before the accident; we believe the mix-up was
the result of gross negligence, and we are suing those we
believe responsible.
Cherese was very interested in social and political issues.
She expressed a deep concern for those who were less fortunate
that she was, and she focused her studies and efforts on how
she could help. She especially wanted to help children, but
she was denied that right.
We are lost without Cherese. She gave so much love and joy
to all those she touched. We and her brother, Todd, miss her
more than we can put into words.
Larry, Chris and Todd Laulhere
Long Beach, Calif.
USA Today
9/19/97
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