Fear of Terrorism Causing Schools to Curtail Foreign-Study Programs

Franco Tonelli won’t be surprised if the threat of terrorism prompts some of the 50 students in UCI’s Education Abroad program to forgo a semester of foreign study.

None of the students at UC Irvine have asked out so far, said Tonelli, the program’s director.

However, a meeting with participating students and their parents will be held on Tuesday, and Tonelli will address questions about the safety of travel in Europe.

Tonelli said he empathizes with students’ and parents’ apprehensions. “I myself am going to fly to Europe next week, and I’m not too happy about it since I’m flying on TWA,” he said. “To Rome.”

Difficult Season

Fear of terrorism has put an abrupt end to the plans of thousands of students who had planned to study in Europe this summer.

And just as the travel industry has reported a sharp decline in bookings for international travel this summer, sponsors of foreign study programs say that they are facing their most difficult season since World War II.

“Every time another incident occurs we get lots of phone calls from parents and students, mostly from parents,” said Lynn Sanborne, a spokeswoman for the American Field Service, which has sponsored exchange student programs for more than 40 years.

“The U.S. bombing of Libya generated many calls, especially from parents who have children scheduled to go to Tunisia, Egypt, Greece and Jordan,” Sanborne said.

Fewer Than Expected

At UCI’s Out Roads travel service, manager Maureen Alfano said Friday that four students have canceled plans specifically because of terrorism.

“We have had some cancellations,” she said, “but not as many as we expected. We thought that the day after the Libyan bombing, we’d have a flood.”

Tonelli said that he has been instructed by the UCI chancellor’s office to tell students that they are to “avoid as much as possible conspicuous places” such as popular restaurants, discotheques, U.S. military installations and airports.

They also should avoid going outside the city and should inform the university’s representative of any travel plans.

High Schools Drop Programs

Bearing the brunt of the cancellations are high school summer-abroad programs. No firm figures are available, but several school districts have canceled overseas programs, and a growing number of parents are withdrawing their children from summer sessions in Europe.

For example, hours after the December attack that left 16 dead in the Rome airport, 23 high school students from Memphis, Tenn., walked off their plane into the chaotic aftermath there. They went on to complete their Italian holiday, but the Memphis school board has since canceled all future overseas trips.

Some school districts have abandoned overseas programs out of concern over liability for the students taking part. According to a 1985 survey of the liability insurance policies of 15 New York school districts, none covered travel outside North America.

Additionally, the field-trip permission slips that parents sign to release school districts from liability are “not worth the paper they’re written on,” said Richard Castallo, associate professor of education at State University College of New York, who conducted the school district insurance study.

Kathleen Dunn, manager for the school exchange program of the National Assn. of Secondary School Principals, said she has told dozens of administrators seeking guidance to follow the advice of the State Department’s travel service. So far, the service has not recommended against student travel.

“Many of the principals not only feel they have a legal obligation for the safety of the children, but that they also have a moral obligation,” Dunn said. “Right now, we’re all walking on eggshells.”

Colleges are growing cool to the idea of sending students overseas this year. At USC, leaders of the International Communications Studies Program are planning to re-evaluate a decision to go ahead with a five-week program that involves taking a group of students to London, Paris and Geneva.

“For some reason, I feel very removed from all that stuff,” said Lauren Tobin, a junior scheduled to take part in the program. “Maybe I should be worried, but I know there are a lot of Americans over there already, and (Libyan leader Moammar) Kadafi can’t get all of them.”

But her mother, Pat Tobin, who is president of a Hollywood public relations firm, takes a different view. She said: “Lauren is an only child, and it would certainly be disastrous to bring a child up for 20 years only to have her killed for no reason. She wants to go regardless, but my feeling is that she should wait.”

A group of students from Southern California College called off an archeological tour that would have taken them through Greece, Israel and Italy after the first Libyan incidents three weeks ago, said a college spokeswoman.

Libya Prompts Pull-Out

Two of a group of 12 Chapman College students who had planned study trips to Europe this summer pulled out after the Libyan incidents, said Melinda Nardin, assistant director of the International Student program.

At Cal State Fullerton, Leon Gilbert, head of the international education program, said nobody has pulled out yet but added that he expects students will be worried.

“I think everybody’s got some concerns about traveling to Europe. It seems to have become a chancy thing,” he said.

Although students aren’t backing out, their plans have changed somewhat, said Richard Sutter, assistant director of the Cal State University system’s international education department. There is a rush to book flights aboard Israeli airline El Al and many students are opting to travel to Israel instead of Europe because “Israel is a state well-prepared to deal with terrorists,” he said.

Taking Precautions

Most sponsors of summer-abroad programs say they have no intention of canceling their tours, but they say they have taken precautions.

For instance, International Student Exchange has rerouted some of its tours so that students will not arrive or leave from the Athens International Airport. U.S. officials criticized the airport for lax security last year, but it has since adopted measures that gained it approval from international bodies that monitor airport security. Instead, these student groups will arrive in Greece by bus and leave by ship.

The Student Exchange also has reduced the number of U.S airlines it will use. According to general manager Franz Jost, the organization has switched to carriers that it perceives to be neutral--Scandinavian, for example.

The American Field Service got around sending a group of students through the Athens airport terminal building by getting Greek customs and immigration officials to check students’ passports in a bus that met the plane on an airport runway. The bus then took the students out of the airport area.

Times staff writer Andy Rose contributed to this story.