Delving Into Study-Abroad Deaths
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MONDAY, JULY 10, 2017 THE INDEPENDENT DAILY NEWSPAPER FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA COMMUNITY SINCE 1868 DAILYIOWAN.COM 50¢ Delving into study-abroad deaths By RISHABH R. JAIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS student deaths — far higher than the four While U.S. colleges and universities listed by the Forum on Education Abroad NEW DELHI — Nearly six years after among the nearly 150,000 students it was must report deaths on their campuses, her son slipped and fell around 109 yards able to track that year. The forum calcu- into a raging mountain river in India, nev- lated a mortality rate of 13.5 per 100,000 they are not required to disclose er to be seen again, Elizabeth Brenner is from those four deaths in an effort to com- most student deaths that occur still wondering how such an accident could pare on-campus deaths with those during have happened. study-abroad programs, which often last abroad, and data collected by industry Brenner’s son, University of Iowa stu- less than a full school year. dent Thomas Plotkin, was one of the “What I discovered about study-abroad organizations are incomplete. millions of American students who have safety was disturbing,” Thackurdeen said studied abroad on university-sponsored from her home in Newburgh, New York. programs in the last decade — part of a “The numbers of incidents and deaths on growing global youth travel industry esti- study abroad are overwhelming.” mated to be worth $183 billion a year. She and other grieving mothers began He wanted to experience another culture demanding more transparency about what “unlike anything that he’d ever known,” happens when students go overseas. Brenner said. “Coffee beans and bowling balls have Others want to study a new language or more rules than any program, school, pro- learn about different political systems. Uni- fessor, or teacher escorting our kids into versities generally encourage study abroad foreign countries,” said Sheryl Hill, who because they believe it improves leadership has built a business called Depart Smart skills and employment prospects. around providing safety advice to students Note from the Editor: In 2012, The Daily Iowan published When her son died, Brenner began look- going abroad after her 16-year-old son, Ty- Rishabh R. Jain’s piece Fatal Fall Raises Questions (above). Jain worked for the DI from August 2011-December 2012. ing into how many other students died ler, fell ill and died while studying in Ja- His follow-up article (left) was published by the Associated overseas, and who might be keeping track pan in 2007. She said he had Type-1 diabe- Press on July 7. For more context on the story, go to Photo source: Depart Smart of the deaths. tes and died from dehydration when he did dailyiowan.com. Former UI student, Thomas Plotkin died on a hiking trail “The answer was that nobody was keep- not receive medical attention in time. while studying abroad in India in 2011. ing track of this at all,” she said. Grieving parents successfully lobbied The number of American students for legislation in Minnesota in 2014 and Note From the Author studying abroad each year has doubled in in Virginia two years later to regulate the When Plotkin died on his 2011 trip to the last decade. But while U.S. colleges and study-abroad industry. A similar measure I first discovered this story while the Indian Himalayas, the University universities must report deaths on their has been introduced in New York, and one working as a reporter for The Daily campuses, they are not required to disclose member of Congress is now pushing a na- Iowan in winter of 2011. The death of Iowa, where he had been enrolled, most student deaths that occur abroad, tionwide bill. of University of Iowa student Thomas cut off all ties with the National and data collected by industry organiza- “Knowing which areas are hot spots for Plotkin in the mountains of India tions are incomplete. violent crime is important information for had compelled me to go to the area, More than 313,400 American students kids and parents to know when they’re Outdoor Leadership School and a few hundred miles north of my hometown, New earned academic credit for studying abroad making decisions on where they’ll study Delhi, during my winter break from school. I really stopped accepting academic credits in 2014-15, according to the Institute of abroad,” said Rep. Sean Maloney, D-N.Y., International Education, which creates who first introduced the Ravi Thackur- wanted to find out more about what happened, earned in its courses. study-abroad programs and manages U.S. deen Safe Students Study Abroad Act in because not much information was available in government study-abroad scholarships. Congress in 2014. The bill failed to pass in American or Indian media at the time. Through my Most student deaths or injuries overseas the Republican-led House of Representa- reporting, I was able to find some crucial information are only briefly discussed or mentioned in tives, and Maloney plans to reintroduce it about the incident that would have been otherwise “Study abroad is a priority [at local newspaper reports. The U.S. Depart- in September. lost in the mountains. the University of Iowa]. Far too few ment of Education keeps no such statistics. “If our kids are consistently getting hurt When Plotkin’s mother, Elizabeth Brenner, ••• in a particular city or at a particular uni- informed me about her trip to India earlier this year, executives have the skills to be truly Ros Thackurdeen hasn’t been able to versity, American families have a right to I wanted to document her journey for my current sleep through the night since her youngest know that information so they can make employer, Associated Press. We decided to do a successful in unfamiliar cultural son, Ravi, drowned while on a school-spon- informed choices about where to study,” cross-format report, and it gave me a chance to dig sored excursion to a beach in Costa Rica Maloney said. deeper into into the field of study abroad in the U.S. waters.” — Downing Thomas, the in 2012. Gregory Malveaux, study-abroad coordi- UI dean of International Programs, “I began searching the Internet,” nator at Montgomery College in Maryland, As a former international student at UI, and someone Thackurdeen said. Within five years, she published a 2016 book titled Look Before who has reported from both the U.S. and India, I have which sends more students to India amassed seven binders of newspaper arti- Leaping: Risks, Liabilities, and Repair of always been fascinated by stories that go beyond cles and travel alerts counting 3,200 oth- Study Abroad in Higher Education, cov- borders. Also, I have always wanted to follow up on than any other U.S. institution. er students who had died or ering study-abroad risks and pre- the story I wrote in 2012, and I had kept in touch with been kidnapped, drugged, ventative measures that could offset a lot of my old sources, including Brenner, which gave injured, or assaulted abroad them. Malveaux backs the idea of me the opportunity to report this story. Interestingly, Information from article over the last few decades. mandating institutions to release when I went back on the trail following Brenner and For 2014, she counted 14 data on student deaths and injuries her family in April this year, we realized that the bell while studying abroad. that hung in Plotkin’s memory (the front-page photo “If these data exist on-campuses, for the 2012 story in the DI), marking the spot on the Munsiyari, India it needs to also cover off-campuses,” trail where he had fallen, had been washed away by Malveaux said. “Study abroad is no the seasons. We were able to identify the spot using more dangerous for students than on-campus activities and occurrenc- the DI’s front-page photo. We matched the shape of es. But it is beneficial to know the rocks that pave the trail from our 2012 photo, with level of safety, and safety measures the actual rocks on the trail and were able to figure available, for the entire institution, the exact location. Brenner and her family had carried including study abroad.” with them another bell, with “Thomas,” inscribed on ••• In 2011, UI student Thomas Plotkin traveled to India. it, that they then hung on the same spot. AP photo/Rishabh R. Jain The lure of studying abroad is ••• He was enrolled in the Semester in India course On April 13 Elizabeth Brenner, who is following the last as strong as ever, and universities with the National Outdoor Leadership School, As I have said before, The Daily Iowan is the footsteps of her son in India, enters the Gangasagar beach are eager to accommodate. At least based in Wyoming. On a hiking trip on the Milam newspaper that made me a journalist. I am extremely in West Bengal state, where the Ganges river flows into the 1,000 American universities and col- Glacier Trail through the Himalayan Mountains in thankful to the paper that equipped me with the Bay of Bengal. Brenner’s son, Thomas Plotkin, died during a leges currently offer credit for study- northern India, Plotkin’s foot reportedly slipped on right skills and discipline, which have helped me study-abroad trip to the mountains of India more than five ing overseas, up from 700 a decade a wet rock. He fell off the edge of the trail and down further my career as a journalist. years ago.