even with my incident and the few others, i would say its still safer than most of the other caribbean islands. although when posted, these instances may seem like they happen to everyone all the time....... this is not the case. besides the run in i had, i never had a problem like that again. 99% of the students will not have any incidents when they are there either.

heck, my family fell in love with the island....... they even bought a condo there after visiting me a few times.

__________________
Dr. Scott
Internal Medicine
PGY-1

AUC Forum Moderator

In the incident the dean was talking about in his email, the following rights were all denied to the students (who got arrested for absolutely NO reason, trust me):

1. The police didn't take any statements from the students, nothing. Just put them in jail.
2. The police didn't give them "one phone call" to try to call anyone to let them know anything, oh, like the fact they were illegally arrested, beaten, and treated like poop by the cops
3. The police didin't take any witness statements. The police told the witnesses to go home, and wouldn't hear anything from witnesses (both [black] locals & students)
4. The police called the students "f***ing pieces of white AUC s***."
5. Students were NEVER told what they were being held/charged for. They asked many times, and the cops just insulted them and laughed at them
6. The students were in swim suits, and had to stay in a cold jail cell overnight with basically no clothes on

The cops here are CORRUPT. This place is garbage. I hate the island now. I liked it, until that stuff happened to my friends. Also, the same day, something really bad happened to me being attacked (for absolutely ZERO reason) by a crazy local.

This place is dangerous.

anyone of these islands in comprance to the USA is a thrid world country. now st maarten on the other hand has more amenties to offer than Dominica, Saba, Grenda, Nevis, and St Kitt----this is why alot of students from different islands come here to break for a bit---

st maarten does have crime and sometimes students are the target, is this the majority of the cases no, but it does happen. i compare it to living in a big city in the USA. Dont big cities have muggins, robberies, car jackings, hold ups? If you flip through the chicago paper you can find anyone of those cases on anyone day.

so i would not worry too much about it, but i would keep my guard up, i wont be in the ghetto at night and so forth.

good luck in your studies

skipper

__________________
My ID says MD....wow!

President and Dean of--
Skipper's Medical Univeristy of the Dutch West Indies--SMU-DWI
Apply Now.....Get an MD in 6 Weeks....

If you fail at AUC, SGU, or Ross why not transfer to SMU, if you fail at SMU, why not try another SMU.

Well, in my experience it is equally safe/unsafe on either side. I like living close to the school because I know most of the neighbors and there are security guards everywhere (whether they will actually help me out for their measley $3 an hour is a question I am not sure of yet).
And to answer your other question, it is BOTH one of the most Americanized islands (aside from the USVirgin Islands I would imagine) AND somewhat Third World. The Caribbean in general is depressed in its economy and development.
As compared to other Third World countries, this really isnt that bad. I can go to McDonalds or a couple of other fast food places, thre is an airport and several grocery stores, two (substandard to me) hospitals, banks, etc. There are places I go by every day that remind me of National Geographic photos from the 1980's, and other times I feel like I am out of place because some places are so upscale. The sidewalks and roads are as nonexistent as is the police protection but at the same time I don't think we are in as bad a place as some others.

__________________
"When you educate a man beyond his intelligence, you create a menace to society."

Haven't been to the US Vigin Islands but, I think Grand Cayman (SMU) may be the most "Americanized". Well, I would say it is the most developed. Low crime on the island. The island has very strict immigration and the mimimum wage here is, I believe, $10/hr and it has a very low unemployment rate. However, crime is everywhere, just try to use your head.

I was on St. Marten for 2 years and never had a problem.

Whoops, I forgot. I parked my car in the school dorm parking lot during 2 breaks, and both times, my car was broken into and CD's, CD player, tire gauge and flashlight were stolen. It it my strong belief, that it was a student and not a local. After I parked my car under the top parking lot security camera over break I never a another problem.