The University of California, Berkeley’s recent ban on
students from SARS-affected countries studying at the campus this
summer has members of the local community wondering if UCLA will
make a similar announcement.
In a statement Tuesday, UCLA officials said they are still
considering whether to instate a comparable ban and that they will
“continue to monitor the situation” with the L.A.
County Department of Health Services.
DHS does not currently think such a ban is necessary, the
statement said.
Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl announced Friday that
students from four SARS-affected areas in Asia would not be allowed
at Berkeley’s summer session.
The UC Office of the President followed Berkeley’s
announcement by issuing its own recommendations on Monday. UCOP
suggested that officials from each campus “strongly
consider” holding off on programs that include students from
SARS-affected countries.
UCOP also advised students and faculty against traveling to
regions where SARS is prevalent while the Center for Disease
Control’s travel warnings are in effect.
A CDC official said Tuesday that Berkeley’s situation is
unique because the number of students planning on coming to
Berkeley from SARS-affected countries is unusually high.
About 600 students from areas such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
and Singapore who were to enroll in Berkeley’s English
Language Program will be affected.
The university said it may lose up to $2 million as a result of
the ban.
Berkeley officials cited their worry that they would not be
prepared to handle a SARS outbreak on campus as their chief
motivation in enacting this policy.
It’s not entirely clear what the effects of a ban on
students from SARS-affected countries would have on UCLA.
Julie Jaskol, manager of public affairs for UCLA Extension, said
during the summer, Extension usually hosts about 100 students from
countries currently affected by SARS, though she said that these
students don’t represent the “lion’s
share.”
“Certainly a hundred students represents a financial
loss,” Jaskol said.
Extension’s American Language Center would probably be
affected the most, Jaskol said.
Lawrence Gower, director of the Office of International Students
and Scholars, said that such a ban on students enrolling in the
fall ““ not the summer ““ would have a noticeable impact
on UCLA.
“It would affect the overall posture of UCLA as an
international institution,” Gower said.
Gower said it is hard to speculate, but since a large proportion
of international students in his program are from Asia, a ban on
students from countries with SARS would affect research efforts and
teaching.
The Office of International Students and Scholars enrolls about
2,500 international students and about the same number of scholars
in UCLA undergraduate and graduate classes and programs.
SARS, a respiratory ailment that has surfaced in Asia, North
America and Europe, has sickened 6,727 people and killed 478 people
worldwide.
The CDC has issued travel advisories for China, Hong Kong,
Singapore and Taiwan. Travel alerts have been enacted for Hanoi,
Vietnam, Toronto and Canada, meaning travelers in these locations
should take precautions to maintain their health.
A new study of SARS in Hong Kong found that 20 percent of people
who are hospitalized for SARS die from it, while more than half of
SARS patients, who are over 60-years old, die.
With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.