Published: May 16, 2008 12:37 am            

China quake on the minds of students

MANKATO, Minn. — Yujie Cheng was on the road to school when one of China’s worst earthquakes struck her hometown.

Cheng, who comes to Gustavus Adolphus College in Mankato next fall, shared the experience through e-mail.

“As a new student of GAC,” she wrote in an e-mail to a Gustavus administrator from her home in Chengdu, China, “I think it is my responsibility to tell you more about this devastating disaster.”

Cheng is one of a handful of students from China who attend — or plan to attend — college in southern Minnesota. As the world watches China’s recovery from one of its worst earthquakes, students at area universities with ties to China are thankful their families back home are OK.

Two students from Gustavus — incoming student Cheng and current student Chenyu Yang — hail from Chengdu, one of the largest cities in the affected area of China.

Cheng, who applied to Gustavus after researching colleges online, had been in contact with Jeff Anderson, Gustavus’ International Student Services coordinator. The two had been exchanging e-mails as Cheng’s admissions application progressed. And without prompting, she decided to tell Anderson what she’s seeing in Chengdu for the benefit of others at Gustavus, especially other Chinese students.

She told Anderson she was on the road to school when the quake hit.

“It was rather safe compared with my parents who were both in an old model tall building,” she wrote. “Fortunately, they managed their way to escape. Now, we live outside.

“It is the first time that I have experienced a great disaster like this ... Every time I get online and read about the news, I just can’t help crying about the touching moments.”

Chenyu Yang said his parents were evacuated after the first wave.

“No one was at home when the earthquake struck,” he said. “Soon afterward, my family came back, got some necessities and moved to the open area ... My father said the water in fountains moved up and down violently when the first and second wave came.”

His family’s building wasn’t badly damaged. And the downtown area wasn’t hit that hard either. But before he knew all this, he was worried.

“I am relieved,” he said. “I am very proud of my city in that even though four million people stayed on the street on the first night of the earthquake, there was no chaos, no panic, and the security was very stable.”

He said he was able to speak to his family about 12 hours after the quake and that the land-based phone system was not damaged.

Janet Moldstad, a professor at Bethany Lutheran College, has lived in China with her family for several months. She’s teaching at United International College. Three Bethany students are there as well. (Both Bethany and Gustavus have partnerships with UIC.)

None of the Bethany representatives were near the quake areas. They had been to several cities near the most affected areas, including Chengdu.

“What worries me most is that the emergency/safety infrastructure is quite haphazard in the developed areas we are living in, and especially so in the more underdeveloped regions where the earthquake happened,” she wrote in an e-mail to Kathy Bruss, wife of Bethany President Daniel Bruss. “This, coupled with dense populations, erratic distribution networks, limited health services, and censorship of the media can very quickly exacerbate the ill effects of catastrophic events.

“On the other hand, the Chinese are a very caring people and do their best to act in a manner that is responsive and helpful.”

Juliet Zhang, a Minnesota State University student from Chongqing, China, has family living near the epicenter of the quake. They’re all OK, and Zhang says the quake didn’t do much damage in her hometown. The next province over, though, wasn’t so lucky.

“Some school (administrators in Chongqing) are afraid of the aftershock, so they made the students sleep outside instead of the dorms, since Chongqing only has tall buildings more than 10 floors,” she said in an e-mail to Tom Gjersvig, director of International Student and Scholar Services.



Robb Murray writes for Mankato (Minn.) Free Press.

        

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