Ohio State administrators canceled yesterday the university’s three summer-study trips to China because of health concerns related to SARS. Thirty-four OSU students and several faculty members were affected by the decision.

The cancellation was made by a committee that included the directors of Student Health Services and the Office of International Education, two OSU attorneys and faculty trip leaders.

“We unanimously decided it was in our students’ best interest to cancel the trips at this time due to the SARS epidemic,” said Dr. John Greisberger, director of the Office of International Education.

Coordinators told the students a meeting would take place and afterwards they would help students make other travel plans.

“Our feeling is we want the students to know as soon as possible so they can make alternate plans for the summer,” Greisberger said.

He said five to 10 programs are still available for students who want to study abroad this summer.

All members of the committee felt the trips were too much of a risk, said Dr. Ted Grace, director of Student Health Services. This feeling was influenced by travel advisories from the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

Grace pointed out many Chinese hospitals are under quarantine, which could overburden other facilities.

“As a secondary consideration, trying to get care for other medical problems would be prohibited by SARS using medical resources,” Grace said.

Genny Widjaja, a sophomore in accounting and Chinese, had plans to go to China through OSU. Although saddened by the canceled trip, her greater concern was for people in China.

“It makes me realize just how serious it is,” she said. “It’s only a summer for us, but it’s a massive thing over there.”

She has not yet made alternative plans for this summer.

Ashley Cameron, a junior in international business and a minor in Chinese, decided not to take the trip two weeks ago.

“I figure I can go always go back to China sometime in the future,” Cameron said.

Both students agreed the university made the right choice.

OSU will decide whether to allow students to travel to China next fall, Greisberger said.

Other Big Ten universities – including the University of Michigan, Northwestern University and Indiana University – have already decided to cancel or pull funding from undergraduate study programs to China.

Worldwide, 5,462 SARS cases have been reported, according to WHO’s Web site on Tuesday.

Of those, more than 3,300 are in China.