By Marla Jo Fisher and Joan Hansen.
The Orange County Register. January
30, 2001
MISSION VIEJO - Students at Saddleback College won't be going on a
school-sponsored trip to Cuba after trustees voted 5-2 Monday to abort the
first-ever study-abroad program to the island nation.
"The liability to the district is enormous to send students to Cuba,
whether we have insurance or the perfect tour operator or not," college
trustee Dorothy Fortune said. "If there are any problems, they are going to
sue us."
About 15 students attended Monday's meeting of the South Orange County
Community College District to ask the trustees to approve the program, which was
reportedly so popular it was oversubscribed.
The college received permission from the U.S. Treasury Department to travel
to Cuba.
Dozens of colleges, including Duke and Emory universities and other
top-rated institutions have study programs in the communist country.
But trustees rejected the plan, saying the United States has no embassy
there, and criticizing the nation's attitudes toward Americans, politics and
safety.
"There's no true diplomatic representative," Fortune said. "The
liability to their health and safety is real."
Trustees David Lang and Marcia Milchiker voted to support the trip.
As proposed, the trip would have been financed entirely through
$2,250-per-student fees and included 10 days in Havana studying culture,
history, politics and economics.
It had been approved by the college's Study Abroad Committee and President
Dixie Bullock.
Trustees previously approved trips to other communist countries, including
the People's Republic of China.
Copyright 2001 The Orange County Register | 