commentary to student safety in St Petersburg

[Shlomit Gorin]

On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 3:39 PM, Dustin Hosseini
<dustin.hosseini at gmail.com>wrote:

> And there you have it:  a typical view that if a person doesn't accept the
> evidence that is presented, that means that that person is completely
> wrong.
>  You say that it is an extremely dangerous place based on your silly stats,
> while I am saying that is simply not the case.  Statistics can be skewed,
> and you yourself know and understand that.
>

I don't want to respond on Ms. Berdy's behalf, but I just wanted to point
out neither she nor anyone claimed that Russia is "an extremely dangerous
place" for anyone.

>
> Sorry, Mrs. or Ms. Berdy, but you yourself have misread some of the
> postings.
>
> Some people have implied that they would not send students of color to
> Russia or have stated openly that they would not go to Russia if they were
> students of color.
>

Since you're referring to me, let me just try to clarify yet again - I'm not
saying that students of color should or shouldn't go to Russia, or should or
shouldn't be scared of going to Russia. I didn't imply it, either. Again:
everyone who is studying abroad in Russia should be informed of potential
risks, and that includes data on hate crimes. I realize you perceive these
data as "silly" and I won't waste my time trying to convince you otherwise.
But for the final time: I never claimed that students of color ought or
ought not to go to Russia. Yes, if I were a person of color, I wouldn't go.
That doesn't mean students of color shouldn't go. Everyone has different
thresholds for what they consider to be safe.

And one more thing, just for the record: I certainly don't have an agenda
against Russia, but I suspect you might need an objective study to prove
that for you to believe it.

I think many on this list may be getting tired of this particular discussion
at this point. I know I am. So I'm throwing in the towel.

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