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December 17, 2004|Volume 33, Number 14|Four-Week Issue



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Campus responds to tsunami
disaster with relief efforts

The Yale community is responding to the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Southeast Asia with prayers for the victims of the tragedy, expressions of concern for those whose homes and families have been affected -- including many at the University -- and efforts to provide relief.

A group of Yale doctors is giving medical care to victims of the tragedy in Sri Lanka; students are organizing drives to raise funds for aid; and the University is sponsoring a service of remembrance for those who died and a concert to benefit survivors.


Levin's message from India

President Richard C. Levin sent a message to the Yale community on Jan. 6 from India, where he was traveling with members of a Yale delegation on a long-planned trip to inaugurate the Fox International Fellowships at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, dedicate a new Yale center for the study of AIDS and initiate a research partnership with a new management school.

Levin noted: "Here we have felt intensely the shock and grief of the whole country from the devastation of the tsunami. The entire region is profoundly affected, as we all know from news reports. And our own campus is affected, since we have numerous students, faculty and staff from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India. I know that many of you will want to respond and offer support to those in our campus community who are suffering because of this great disaster, and there will be opportunities to do so in the coming days."

Noting that many undergraduate and graduate students have begun to organize relief efforts, Levin said: "Yale is a university international in scope. As a result, this terrible loss is not a world away; it is among us, and we are called to respond with compassion and service. I know that you will act with generosity."


Doctors in Sri Lanka

A team of faculty physicians and students from the School of Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital and Griffin Hospital flew to Sri Lanka on Dec. 31 to join in the efforts to treat the hundreds of thousands of displaced victims of the tsunami.

The team members included Dr. Ramin Ahmadi, assistant clinical professor of internal medicine and lecturer in epidemiology and public health (EPH); Dr. Sherwin Nuland, clinical professor in the Department of Gastroenterology and at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies; EPH students Joanne Cossitt, director of the Griffin Center for Health and Human Rights, and Dr. Padmini Ranasinghe, resident at Griffin Hospital; Dr. Majid Sadigh, associate clinical professor of internal medicine; Dr. Monique Tello, pediatric resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital; and Dr. Anu Wallallyadda, physician at Griffin Hospital.

The Yale group flew into Colombo, where they were met by members of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health. The team was assigned to Batticaloa, on the island's east coast. In an e-mail to colleagues at the School of Medicine, Tello noted that an estimated 800,000 Sri Lankans have been displaced by the tsunami devastation and there are 94 refugee camps in Batticaloa alone.

Working with the local Batticaloa Health Disaster Response Team (known as BDHeaRT), the Yale physicians treated the Sri Lankan refugees for a number of major health issues, including respiratory infections, diarrhea, dysentery, malaria, wound infections, insect bites and parasites -- even mumps. Many adults also had acute depression and anxiety, Tello reports, and there have been many rumors of another tsunami coming, "which is making people crazy."

The Yale group's public health expert, Joanne Cossitt developed epidemiologic data collection forms designed to be used by the medical teams in Sri Lanka in an effort to coordinate care there.

At last report, the team had returned to Colombo, where they were awaiting reassignment.


Service and benefit concert

The University Chaplain's Office organized a service of remembrance drawing on Judeo-Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist traditions, which was scheduled for 8 p.m. on Jan. 13.in Battell Chapel.

Dean Robert Blocker of the School of Music has organized a benefit concert on Friday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. in Woolsey Hall, corner of College and Grove streets. The concert will draw together musicians from New Haven and Yale, including the Yale Philharmonia, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra New England, the Yale Concert Band, the Yale Glee Club, and the Yale Camerata. Tickets will be available for a donation of $10 or more at the door or at the Sprague Hall box office, 435 College St.


On-campus donation drive

Back on campus, a group of undergraduates have joined with the University Chaplain's Office to organize Disaster Relief Effort­Sri Lanka (DRE­SL), an initiative to raise money for children affected by the tragedy.

"The tsunami that hit South and South East Asia was a reminder that a tragedy of this nature does not discriminate nationality, religion, ethnicity or political affiliation," write the organizers of the initiative on their website. "We ... believe that at this time of tragedy and desperation, help for these victims should also stem irrespective of such differences."

Funds raised by DRE­SL will be given to the Sarvodaya Movement, an organization that has been working for three decades to improve Sri Lankan communities through self-help initiatives. The organizers note that they chose to support that organization because it has "the manpower and infrastructure in the affected areas in Sri Lanka to best help the children as soon as possible and to ensure that almost all of your donations benefit the children and very little is spent for administrative purposes." A member of DRE-SL will be in Sri Lanka and will report how the money is distributed, note the organizers.

Individuals can donate to DRE-SL in several ways: They can send a check made out to the Yale University Chaplain's Office and marked "Disaster Relief Fund" to Disaster Relief Fund Sri Lanka, Yale University Chaplain's Office, P.O. Box 209078, New Haven, CT 06520-9078; they can visit the group's website at www.reliefeffort-sl.com (which also includes links to other organization seeking donations); or they can stop by the donations tables sponsored by DRE­SL in the Yale dining halls.

In addition, proceeds from a concert being presented on Friday, Jan. 21, as part of the Winter Arts Festival will benefit DRE­SL (see related story).


Deans' messages

Several Yale deans sent e-mail messages about the tsunami and the relief efforts to students and faculty returning from the holiday recess.

In a letter to the Yale College community, Dean Peter Salovey acknowledged the many messages he had received from people wanting to help the victims of the disaster. "When confronted by this global disaster," he wrote, "it is comforting to recall our good luck in being part of a community where so many care about one another and show by their actions compassion to those who are less fortunate."

Salovey announced the creation of a group to coordinate the undergraduate relief efforts. Betty Trachtenberg, dean of student affairs at Yale College, is chairing the committee, which includes Ann Kuhlman, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars; Saveena Dhall, director of the Asian American Cultural Center; Nina Glickson, assistant to the president; Cynthia Terry, associate university chaplain; and Judith Krauss, master of Silliman College; and two yet-to-be-named students. Salovey urged undergraduates with ideas and suggestions to contact any member of the group.

He also urged anyone who needs special counsel or support concerning the disaster to consult their residential college dean or master, the University Chaplain's Office or the mental hygiene staff at University Health Services.

This sentiment was echoed by Graduate School Dean Jon Butler in a message to that community.

"These events may have occurred many miles from New Haven," he wrote, "but they will be felt piercingly by many here." He advised members of the Graduate School community to contact the director of graduate study in their department or any of the school's deans and directors.

In their e-mails to their respective communities, both Butler and School of Medicine Dean Dr. Robert Alpern included a list of international organizations providing relief to the over 155,000 victims of the tsunami. The names of those organizations, and the full text of their letters -- as well as the messages by Levin and Salovey -- can be found at the Office of Public Affairs website, www.yale.edu/opa.


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