University Times

A memorial service for Pittsburgher Jack Wilson and six other people who died in a recent bus accident in India will be held today, April 11, at 10:30 a.m. in Heinz Memorial Chapel.

Five of the victims, including Wilson, were passengers on the current around-the-world voyage of the Pitt-sponsored Semester at Sea (SAS) program.

Wilson, 65, of Oakland, was a retired insurance agent and past president of Pitt's Ambassador Club. He was traveling with his wife, Teresa, who was the voyage's coordinator of activities for adult passengers. She has returned to the United States.

Wilson was one of seven people killed on March 27 when an SAS-chartered bus overturned on a rural road near the village of Farra. The bus was taking about 30 Semester at Sea participants from New Delhi to Agra, site of the Taj Mahal.

Besides Wilson, those who were killed included four American SAS students and two Indians — a tour guide and the bus's cleaner.

Sixteen other SAS students were injured in the crash, said John P. Tymitz, executive director of the Institute for Shipboard Education, which administers SAS but is not affiliated with the University.

Three of the injured students suffered fractures and have returned to the United States, Tymitz said. Two other students who suffered minor injuries returned to the United States at their parents' requests and are considering rejoining the voyage before the S.S. Universe Explorer (the ship used by SAS) returns to Seattle May 13, according to Tymitz.

None of the students who were killed or injured attended Pitt or were from the Pittsburgh area.

Students killed in the crash were Virginia Amato of Metairie, La., who attended the University of Texas at Austin; Jennifer Druck of Del Mar, Calif., a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder; Cherese Laulhere of Long Beach, Calif., a student at the University of California at Los Angeles; and Sarah Schewe of Amherst, Mass., a student at Georgetown University.

The crash also killed tour guide Ramesh Abrol and bus cleaner Shankar Lal, both of Delhi.

On March 28, the morning after the accident, Tymitz left for India. He returned to Pittsburgh last weekend, after meeting with Indian police and U.S. embassy officials and visiting the S.S. Universe Explorer.

"We're still trying to find out exactly what happened. We haven't gotten final reports [on the accident] from the local authorities or the embassy," Tymitz said. Until that information is available, SAS administrators will reserve judgment on possible changes in the program's travel itinerary or tour arrangements in India, he said. SAS "never once considered" canceling the rest of the current voyage, Tymitz said. "Foremost in my mind was the conviction that the shipboard community had to come together and support themselves through this. They could provide the best support for one another," he said. During a memorial service on the S.S. Universe Explorer, each of the 559 students and 19 adult passengers was invited to drop jasmine petals in the sea in memory of the bus accident victims, Tymitz said.

The SAS office in the William Pitt Union has received hundreds of calls since the crash, most of them requests for information about the accident, Tymitz said. "We haven't received any cancellations [from prospective passengers on future voyages] that I know of," he said.

— Bruce Steele

Dear Friends, the vocal ensemble-in-residence at Stephen Foster Memorial, will dedicate its April 21 concert to the memory of Jack Wilson, a long-time supporter of the group. The performance will be at 2:30 p.m. in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium.