We exchanged more small talk and then I asked, What do you do in Georgia, may I ask? I am a psychiatrist, but I am planning to go to medical school to be a cardiologist very soon. Well you could have knocked me over with a feather! You are a psychiatrist? I do not mean any offense but I was concerned for you because you look very distraut to me and I felt that you needed someone to talk to. That is when he began to open up. He had indeed gone to visit his uncle and partake in some ceremonies and worship in India, but that was not the main purpose for his trip. He was on the way back from Taiwan.

Plane crash in Taiwan
....excerpt from the Associated Press.


November 1, 2000: SEI President Dr. Deborah Brosnan and Vice-president Dr. Steven Courtney were involved in a plane crash at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, October 31, while en route back to the United States from the 2000 International Coral Reef Symposium in Bali. Following the accident, in which Dr. Courtney reportedly assisted several passengers in escaping from the wreckage, he was taken to a local hospital. Dr. Brosnan was treated and released. Both scientists are doing well, and we expect them to return home sometime next week.

According to the Associated Press, the Singapore Airlines jetliner struck an object on the runway and then burst into flames while attempting to take off in heavy rain and wind at 11:18pm, local time. There were 20 crew members and 159 passengers aboard; 79 were killed in the accident. As of 4:00pm ET this morning, 39 people were still hospitalized and the death rate was expected to climb.