Effects of the Tsunami

To Members of the MU Community:

It is with great sadness that we have watched the tragic effects of the earthquake in the Indian Ocean and the resulting tsunamis that have devastated the countries of Asia. I personally have sent condolences to President Prasert of Prince of Songkla University and to President Krissanapong Kirtkara of King Mongkut's University of Technology, Thonburi, both MU sister institutions. One of PSU's four campuses is in Pukhet; while that area was heavily damaged, the campus was not, and the university has sent its entire medical faculty, staff and students to aid in the disaster. KMUTT is located near Bangkok.

I have also communicated by email with all of our students, scholars and recent alumni from India, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. As of this writing, we have not received any reports of deaths of MU students or alumni, for which we are very grateful. Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman has also sent condolences from the City. More than 400 MU students and 200 alumni are from the affected areas.

Dr. Syed Arshad Husain, Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in our School of Medicine, is organizing a team from MU's International Center for Psychosocial Trauma to travel to south Asia to help child survivors cope with the post-disaster trauma. He hopes to assist the survivors of the tsunami through this time of bereavement and help them capture hope for the future.

Students and staff from the International Center will host a booth at the Columbia Values Diversity Celebration on Thursday, Jan. 13, from 7 to 8:45 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Select Expo Center to collect donations, distribute informational flyers and sell international cookbooks ($20), the proceeds from which will go to disaster relief agencies. Students will distribute flyers and seek donations from Tuesday, Jan. 18 through Thursday, Jan. 20, at Brady Commons.

Members of the International Center and Counseling Center will provide opportunities for faculty, staff and students to share their experiences with this and similar disasters from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 24, at Memorial Union North in the Walt Disney Room.

On Tuesday, Jan. 25, at noon, we will hold a campus memorial service on Francis Quadrangle. All members of the MU family are invited to join in this remembrance of the victims of the earthquake and tsunamis.

Additional information, including the names of relief agencies and how to contribute to the efforts of the MU International Center for Psychosocial Trauma, are noted on the International Center's web site. Certainly there are a number of reputable relief agencies hard at work to which you may wish to direct your contributions. Reviews of agency activities are available from the American Institute of Philanthropy.

I also am working with the Provost's Office and Student Affairs to plan a campus wide forum where we might, as a university community, examine the many aspects of this disaster, share viewpoints and knowledge, and generate scholarly activity that will help us try to understand and learn from this cataclysmic event.

Brady J. Deaton
Chancellor