Quake felt by Northwest group at China conference

chna med

Several faculty members, spouses and students from Northwest recently
attended a physical education and recreation conference in China. Part of the
Maryville group is pictured above at the Great Wall. From left: Jacob Bashor,
a student at Kent State University; Dr. Jeff Ferguson of Northwest's HPERD
department; Tracy Hoza, Northwest soccer coach; Northwest graduate student
Casey Kenny; and Julie Ferguson, a teacher with the Nodaway-Holt School
District. Man at far right is unidentified.

It’s one thing to describe an experience as “earth-shaking event,” it’s quite another to be there when the earth actually shakes.

That’s exactly what happened to a group of seven Northwest faculty members, spouses and students who traveled to China last month for the International Forum on Sport, Exercise and Leisure at Hebei (hoe-buy) Normal University in Shijiazhuang (shûr-jēä-jwäng).

On the second day of the conference, May 12, Dr. Jeff Ferguson, associate professor of health, physical education, recreation and dance, was anchoring a three-part session on sport and leisure curriculum design when everyone in the room felt vibrations coming up through the floor.

Within seconds, it was apparent the vibrations were being caused by an earthquake, Ferguson said, and the seminar participants, who were on the fifth floor of a 27-story building, scurried down the stairs and hurriedly made their way to the relative safety of a nearby park.

The force of the quake was enough to make the skyscraper “shimmy and shake,” and Ferguson said neither he nor anyone else at the conference immediately realized that the heart of the seismic disturbance was more than 1,000 miles to the southwest in Sichuan province -- a catastrophic event that claimed more than 60,000 lives and registered 7.9 on the Richter scale.

English-language television news reports soon began to reveal the scope of the tragedy, Ferguson said, noting that the coverage appeared to be surprisingly complete and accurate for a nation in which the government has been known to exercise tight control over the media.

Fortunately for members of the Northwest HPERD contingent, the quake was too far away to cause any significant damage or injuries in the forum’s host city. Ferguson said he knew of one conference participant who had family living near the quake’s epicenter, but they apparently survived unharmed.

Also attending the forum from Northwest were Dr. Terry Robertson, HPERD department chair; his wife, Shelly, a Northwest graduate student; student Tiffany Robertson; graduate student Casey Kenny; Northwest soccer coach Tracy Hoza; and Ferguson’s wife, Julie, a reading specialist for the Nodaway-Holt School District.

Altogether, 32 educators from the United States took part in the forum, whose sponsors included Hebei Normal University, Kent State University and the “Journal of Sport and Leisure.”

In addition to attending or presenting at conference sessions, Ferguson said members of the Northwest group got a quick look at venues being prepared for the upcoming Olympic Games and toured various athletic and recreational facilities. Other stops included national landmarks such as Tiananmen Square; the Forbidden City, center of the pre-revolutionary imperial government; the emperor’s Summer Palace, now a vast public garden; and the Great Wall.

Ferguson said many of the discussions and presentations at the forum concerned curriculum development in recreation and leisure, a growing area of interest for Chinese educators.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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