COLUMBIA, MO. -- It’s been one week since an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan killing thousands and leaving more homeless.
Mizzou officials are now strongly recommending that their students studying in Japan leave the country.
The tsunami has caused major problems at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant. Mizzou officials are strongly recommending that their students leave the country because of the threat of radiation and other life-threatening problems.
“We can, effectively, make them come home by terminating the program and telling them that we would no longer support that study over in Japan, if we felt that their safety was in grave danger,” said MU Spokesman Christian Basi.
Six of Mizzou’s nine students in Japan have already returned to the United States. The other three students remain overseas. One is on spring break in Korea. The other two are still in Japan.
Finding a flight out of Japan is difficult. MU Officials say they’re doing all they can to help their students find a way home.
The Coordinator of MU’s Japanese Studies Program said many media reports have sensationalized the situation in Japan.
MU Japanese Studies Coordinator Dr. Martin Holman said, “There doesn’t seem to be a lot of excitement about the opportunity of coming home. It seems to be more that my parents want me to. The University is encouraging it. Others have said, I’m just staying because there’s nothing going on here that’s unusual. Nothing around me looks any different. There’s no radiation.”
International forces have come together to help keep the radiation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant under control. There are no guarantees that the radiation will be contained.
People in Mid-Missouri that have been trying to reach friends and family in Japan said the most popular method of communication has been social networks on the internet.
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