The University evacuated nine students from the cottages behind Murray and Yost this week in order to free up space for a possible SARS quarantine.

For many Stanford community members, this appeared to be an odd knee-jerk reaction to a pressing, but ill-understood international health threat. While general consensus on campus supports the University taking precautionary measures toward SARS containment, many students are wary that the University has made a rash decision in forcing these students to move out of their current residences. Furthermore, we wish to stress the need for the University to be upfront and honest with the community as it carries out its precautionary measures — leaving anyone “out of the loop” in times of potential emergency can only make those involved anxious or angry.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome — marked by a high fever, dry cough, and other flu-like symptoms — is said to have originated in Guangdong Province of China last November and, by nature, is a communicable virus. Besides being contagious and having no known cure, most scientists have not yet even identified its cause. Just yesterday several research teams claim to have identified the virus as a relative of the common cold. SARS infection cases could be anywhere between 1,800 and 3,000 worldwide and death tolls fall between 110 and 190. So far, nine cases of infection have been reported in Santa Clara County, but there have been no reported U.S. deaths.

Given such uncertain knowledge about SARS’ nature and whereabouts, we should all concern ourselves with containing its spread. Although there have been no deaths in the United States, California’s proximity to Asia and its function as a stopover for travelers going to and from Asia makes caution especially relevant for California residents. It is for this reason that we expect extra competence and professionalism from University housing directors and staff in their decisions about how to protect our community.

After hearing that the director of Housing Assignment Services e-mailed nine residents of Murray and Yost last Friday asking them vacate their rooms during the weekend due to “international events,” we are not concerned that the University is trying to ensure the health of the entire student body at the expense of inconveniencing a few students. But we are concerned that the University chose to clear out the quarantine residents on such sort notice; that some students were asked to move out before even being reassigned to new housing; that University officials only chose to notify residents via e-mail and without notifying the resident fellows, RAs, or other residents of Murray and Yost; and that the University was secretive in the manner of decision-making and of hiding plans from the Stanford community. These oversights reflect a lack of transparency on the part of University decision-makers, which has only served to further alarm the community.

While their decision-making process in this instance appears poorly thought-out, University officials could have compensated for their need to make a rushed decision by communicating earlier with the affected students. A method of shared responsibility for problem-solving would have allowed students to point out issues in the eviction process that the decision-makers were more likely to overlook.

Now that the concept of a SARS quarantine on Stanford’s campus has become public knowledge, the community is slowly being brought up to speed about the University’s emergency containment plans. Jane Camarillo, director of Residential Education, and Ira Friedman, director of Vaden Student Health Center, met exclusively with Murray and Yost residents Monday night to share what they knew about the precautionary measures, and this meeting was just a small step toward including and informing the Stanford community about the possible SARS quarantine.

It is in times of potential emergency that we most need University measures to be well-thought-out and well-communicated. We also realize that student and community voice can only help in the decision-making processes. We hope that in the future Housing Services, Student Life, Vaden, Residential Education, and Student Affairs representatives, as well as the University as a whole, will prioritize communication with students and community members as it makes decisions on issues of such gravity.