AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Weather Tropical Storms & Hurricanes St Matts, and people who gripe about them

jb What exactly is your interest in this school? Do you have a student there, are you a faculty member, an investor, what? it would seem that your actually knowledge of what occured down there is limited if you have no direct involvement, so leave these kids alone.

As an alumna of SMU, I get tired of having to defend my schools reputation as a serious institution of learning. People like the whiner in this thread make it difficult. Life's not a day at the country club. You live through it! Be thankful. That's a tall order for those who feel entitled.

I once read a definition of a Republican as someone born on third base who thinks he hit a triple. That describes alot of people I knew at SMU and from your posting I'd say you're one that group.

I was in Caulker only last week. Would really like to hear how Mo and the Lazy Iguana faired? How are the cats? Hope Regis and company are OK.

Mo, if you're reading this, can I send you anything? Hardware supplies?

LNK

10-8-2000

I would like to say this:

There were some officials of the school who left in panic rather than staying and coordinating this whole calamity. Especially the so called Hurricane Coordinator who gave a big talk on the orientation day. Its like the captain jumping the ship and leaving the passengers behind. Shame on that person. They have no place in a medical school. They are a disgrace to the entire school.

As far as the students are concerned they were very cooperative, they did their best on their own. Not a single administration official of the school was available during the hurricane period. Some deserted and jumped ship.

Some faculty members were not even informed by the administration about this whole event.
They came to know after it started.

Students survived on their own by their own planning and cooperation amongst themselves. Students were lied to by the administration and kept in the dark. This is not a joke they will be held accountable especially the hurricane coordinator Dr. Downs who fled the place on Friday only to return after the hurricane is over.

Students even cooperated with and assisted the locals by giving them shelter. There were many homeless people about 15 -20 per apartment that were given shelter by these students. Students did their best under the circumstances. They donated food supplies it was their human service spirit. They only left the island when they had no power and water for four days and they did not want to drain the resources of the locals further. They came to study and went back to continue their studies. They were not the ones to jump ship.

JB - you are a moron. Nobody is saying that we needed to have our hands held - we are saying that we were lied to by the administration. They had many of the students passports and plane tickets, so those students were in a bind. I personally spoke with someone at the embassy in the aftermath, and this person stated that on Friday morning at nine a.m., they warned Dr. Jeff Sersland about the impending hurricane. They were told by Dr. Jeff that SMU had its own evac policy. The embassy then proceeded to evac non-essential personnel and the Peace Corps. Students were told at the beginning of the semester that in the event of a hurricane, a phone tree would be activated. It was not. We were told during the hurricane that SMU would pay for losses and charter a plane to the US - they did not. We were told that classes would begin on Monday, October 8 - they will not. We wouldn't have cared if they told us we were on our own - but we were lied to and led along by Dr. Jeff, led to believe that they had it all under control - they did not. Parents were lied to - they were told their children were safe and accounted for, when in reality they were not. Most students wanted to stay, but we were told to leave by SMU... the U. dropped the ball on this one, leaving the students to recover it. The students would have done well if left to their own devices, but the lies perpetrated by the administration gave them a false sense of security. If the admin was working 24/7, we didn't see it. If we had been told the truth, told that they didn't know anything, there would be no "whiners". Unless you know what happened from the POV of a student, I suggest you keep your feeble opinions to yourself.

Thanks to Drs. Jackson, Matayoshi, Ali, and Rosales for pulling through and sticking by the students.

Special thanks to SMU student Erik N., who brought a chartered boat filled with supplies to the island the moment it was safe enough to do so.

I've been following the SMU student's situation since the first day of the storm and now I want to say something. At the first, concerned parents were posting messages looking for their children. When the students were determined to ok, they began demanding preferential treatment in getting them off the island. Then the students were moved to a hotel in Belize City, and they began sending posts demanding the preferental treatments in leaving the country. Someone even tried to get a letter writing campaign going to the US Embassy to "get the students off the island first". Now that the students are home, they continue to write in about their hardships and suffering in Belize. The whole group (parents, administrators, and many of the students) should have to read "The Ugly American" before being allowed back into Belize. They really represent what's wrong with the USA. At the very least they should learn how to stand in line like everone else.

I may be a moron, but I also graduated from SMU, so welcome to the club. That's why I've had an interest in this discussion. I wish you all well in your profession. Perhaps your experience will someday make you better doctors or human beings. I hope for everyones sake this is true. My daughter, who has been offered a partial scholarship to SMU has been following this discussion as well. She says wants to go to medical school eventually. We have owned property on AC for almost 20 years, and she has spent time there since she was an infant. The St Matthews program really appealed to her because of the Belize connection. This morning she told me she would rather go to UT. I am so proud of her.

whew! step back and take a breath. I think everyone is jumping to conclusions about all of this. Sounds like everyone is misreading what is being said. From what i see, i do not think they are asking for preferental treatment. The problem sounds like they were told that arrangements were being made to get them stateside, but this did not happen for what ever reason. If told that they were to make their own plans to leave, i am sure they would have been capable. It was miscommunication in the worst way. Who's fault? i do not know.I truly believe that this is what you are hearing, not that we were not first off. As to spoiled rich brats! have you ever seen the loan payments these kids are facing? I bet 80% of those students are receiving finicial aid. One other think ,i think everyones time might be better spent looking at the post about the belize goverment charging duty on the relief aid being sent .

JB, you say that you are a graduate of SMU. When did you graduate from SMU? Or did you go to Southern Methodist U?

I was at SMU when Mitch was threatening. We also were told that the school had made plans to evacuate us SHOULD it become necessary. We were also threatened that should we leave before the school called an evacuation, that we would be in big trouble. We would not be able to make up exams, etc. Now, it sounds silly- life verses taking an exam- but we were being reassured by almost everyone that the hurricane wasn't going to come near us and that if it did, it wouldn't be too bad.

The school did finally call an evacuation- to Orange Walk. Orange Walk was unprepared for the students and couldn't offer shelter. Many students had already left on their own, but some students had to stay with the school because of lack of personal funds. Several students were left on the island. The entire San Pedro community was lucky with Mitch. We were warned.

When the semester resumed, the student government and the school developed an evacuation plan- the recall tree. The school also mandated that each student turn in a open ticket on tropic air. The student government was told that the school had a contract with tropic air to evacuate the students to the mainland. THe students would then be on their own to find their way back to the states.

Obviously, these plans didn't work as well as they should have. Instead of whining, why not evaluate what went wrong, and how it can be corrected. And the same thing for the whole of the San Pedro community. What will happpen to your evacuation plans now? What can you do so that EVERYONE remains safe?

whew! step back and take a breath. I think everyone is jumping to conclusions about all of this. Sounds like everyone is misreading what is being said. From what i see, i do not think they are asking for preferental treatment. The problem sounds like they were told that arrangements were being made to get them stateside, but this did not happen for what ever reason. If told that they were to make their own plans to leave, i am sure they would have been capable. It was miscommunication in the worst way. Who's fault? i do not know.I truly believe that this is what you are hearing, not that we were not first off. As to spoiled rich brats! have you ever seen the loan payments these kids are facing? I bet 80% of those students are receiving finicial aid. One other think ,i think everyones time might be better spent looking at the post about the belize goverment charging duty on the relief aid being sent .