The earthquake that shook Taiwan occurred halfway around the world, but its effects have reached as far as the Green of Hanover.
As Taiwan tried to dig itself out of rubble, students at Dartmouth scrambled to hear word from family members and friends who lived there.
Brian Ni '03, an international student from Taiwan, was checking BlitzMail at the Kiewit Computation Center when he received a message from a friend saying, "Big earthquake in Taiwan. Call home."
"The next hour or so I remember mashing the telephone buttons like crazy desperately trying over and over to get through to my dad," Ni said. "Imagine how I felt when I heard that a hotel near my home completely collapsed into rubble."
When Ni finally got in touch with his mother, Ni was relieved to find out that both his parents and his grandparents were safe.
Nancy Lai '03, whose father lives in Taiwan, said she and her mother expected the worst when they had trouble reaching him shortly after the earthquake.
"For three days both my mom and I tried to get through to dad and I didn't exactly know how to feel," Lai said. "Was I supposed to be mourning or not?"
Lai's father survived the earthquake, but she said, "It was definitely strange to have experienced this during my first week here."
After learning of the recent tragedy in Taiwan, Dr. Yen Kuei Chuang, a Taiwan native and counselor at Dick's House, notified various Asian-American organizations on campus offering individual and group counseling for earthquake victims.
"It would be tremendously difficult for a victim of the tragedy to deal with the pain alone here," Chuang said. "He would feel there is no one here who can relate to his experience."
While individuals have not sought counseling from Chuang, the Asian-American community at Dartmouth have been trying to aid the victims of the earthquake by collecting donations.
Throughout this week, members of the Dartmouth Asian Organization, the Asian Christian Fellowship, the Dartmouth China Society and the Dartmouth Taiwanese Society will be collecting relief funds for the victims at Thayer Dining Hall and Collis Center. The money collected will be given to the Taiwanese Red Cross. The fund-raising effort will close with a yard sale on Saturday on Massachusetts Row.
Already, hundreds of dollars have poured in from students and faculty members. At the recent Graduate Chinese Mid Autumn Festival, celebrated on Saturday, October 2, a total of $325 was collected in the name of the Taiwan tragedy. Biochemistry Professors Ti Yuan and Catherine Chang donated $200 at the event.
"We have collected over $200 on the first day. Things are looking great so far," Aki Joy Naito '01, the service chair of DAO, who helped organize the fund-raising event. "Everyone is willing to give a hand, and the general support of the campus has been tremendous."
