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Univ bars students from SARS-infected areas from summer school
Berkeley (California), May 06: The University of California at Berkeley will turn away new students from SARS-infected China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong this summer in what is believed to be the first such move by a major US University to prevent the spread of the virus.
Berkeley (California), May 06: The University of California at Berkeley will turn away new students from SARS-infected China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong this summer in what is believed to be the first such move by a major US University to prevent the spread of the virus.
The decision, announced on the campus website Friday,
affects about 500 students who were planning to attend
Berkeley for the summer term that begins may 27. Instead,
those students will get their money back.
There have been no cases of SARS at Berkeley, which has about 700 students now enrolled on campus from the four regions hit hardest by the virus. The school anticipates fewer than 100 new students from those areas this fall.
"After close consultation with several public health officials and campus experts, and based on the strong recommendation of the city of Berkeley health officer, I deeply regret that we will not be accepting enrollments of students from these areas," campus chancellor Robert Berdahl said in a message on the website.
While many American universities have wrestled with how to deal with severe acute respiratory syndrome, the flu-like illness that has killed more than 400 people and sickened more than 6,300, mostly in Asia, Berkeley's outright ban on incoming students is unusual.
Victor Johnson, executive director of the Association of International Educators in Washington, which promotes the exchange of scholars to and from the United States, had not heard of any other school taking such a step. Bureau Report
There have been no cases of SARS at Berkeley, which has about 700 students now enrolled on campus from the four regions hit hardest by the virus. The school anticipates fewer than 100 new students from those areas this fall.
"After close consultation with several public health officials and campus experts, and based on the strong recommendation of the city of Berkeley health officer, I deeply regret that we will not be accepting enrollments of students from these areas," campus chancellor Robert Berdahl said in a message on the website.
While many American universities have wrestled with how to deal with severe acute respiratory syndrome, the flu-like illness that has killed more than 400 people and sickened more than 6,300, mostly in Asia, Berkeley's outright ban on incoming students is unusual.
Victor Johnson, executive director of the Association of International Educators in Washington, which promotes the exchange of scholars to and from the United States, had not heard of any other school taking such a step. Bureau Report