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September 18, 2001 Dear Study Abroad Students: The events of September 11 in New York and Washington D.C. served as a brutal reminder of the nature of terrorism and extremism in our modern world. It has also compelled each of us to look deep within ourselves in an effort to make some sense of these tragic events and to chart our future course. As with us at the college, those of you who have been planning to participate in our Study Abroad Program in Salamanca, Spain, recent events weigh heavily on our minds. During the past week we have been in contact with the Director of Programs at AIFS, a host of educational partners in Europe, and the State Department. While we understand that the situation remains somewhat fluid, we do not feel there is any gripping reason at present to cancel or change the program as planned. While we will continue to monitor the world situation, we are supportive of the State Department’s current Public Announcement in which American citizens are encouraged to continue with their travel plans while maintaining a high level of vigilance and security awareness. The State Department presently has twenty-eight nations on its Travel Warnings list. Only four European nations are on the list– Albania, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Yugoslavia. And, of course, they are on the list for reasons entirely unrelated to the events of September 11. We are fortunate that our program is in Salamanca this fall. The city has traditionally been very safe. Students will be staying with local Spanish families and will attend classes at a Spanish university along with students from around the globe. There is no "American Center" or any other area designated for American students in Salamanca. Thus, there is no visible "American" interest in Salamanca that might be considered a terrorist target. In addition, AIFS maintains a full-time staff in the city and there are eight American Consulate offices throughout Spain. Both AIFS and the Consulates offer students a full compliment of general and emergency services. I know that many of you are anxious about traveling now and we share in your unease. But we remain very excited about our program in Salamanca. A number of our friends in Spain having been writing the college expressing their sadness about recent events and extending offers to assist us personally and professionally in any way they can. While we are all painfully aware that our lives have forever changed, we at the college are confident that there is no reason to consider Salamanca, or travel to Europe, to be appreciably less safe than it was before the tragedies in New York and Washington, D.C. We are all looking forward to meeting with students on Saturday, September 29 at Cosumnes River College as planned. If you have any questions with which we might help, please feel free to call either me or our Director of International Education, Dounald Thomas. Sincerely, Larry G. Buckley, PhD I am including below links to two government websites that provide information about travel abroad. U.S. Consular Affairs - http://travel.state.gov U.S. Embassy / Madrid - http://www.embusa.es/cons/indexen.html |
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[Lake
Tahoe Community College] [World
Languages Dept.] [LTCC
Study Abroad] |