Thread: 11 MSU students robbed, kidnapped in Guatemala

http://www.freep.com/article/20090320/N ... 1001/rss01

11 MSU students robbed, kidnapped in Guatemala
By Robin Erb • FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER • March 20, 2009

Eleven Michigan State University students are safe after being ordered off a bus last week in Guatemala, tied up and robbed at gunpoint during spring break.

Classes resumed this week, but it was unclear how many of those students had returned to school, MSU officials said.

The students, a tour guide and two bus company employees were heading to Lake Atitlan on March 13 when several men approached their tour bus with guns, according to the university's student newspaper, the State News.

The bus driver was told to drive for several miles into a rural field, where the group was forced off the bus and tied up, according to the students.

The gunmen took their money, electronics and other valuables before leaving, said several of the students. Several of the women said they were molested after being patted down for their valuables, the paper reported.

Four of the students, according to the paper, were part of a spring break trip organized by Encountour, a New York-based travel group that arranges trips for college students to Latin America.

The students were in the country to develop the area's tourism industry through manual labor, and they had planned the trip themselves.

University spokesman Terry Denbow said university study-abroad programs have “rigorous protocols, and then there are also programs for spring break that have protocols. But those are university sanctioned.

“This is not one of those. This one didn’t have endorsement, knowledge or support from the university,â€

Them and their family's are IDIOTS for going to Latin America to party for Spring-Break. Maybe this will teach other kids.

Hearing this kind of highlights just how stupid and out of touch with reality many Americans are.

Some people have to learn the hard way. I cannot wait until the elected officials have learned their lessons.