For many, a typical trip to a hardware store consists of buying plywood, tools and home fixtures.
But for two MSU students, their shopping cart included 500 surgical masks intended to help prevent the spread of SARS, a deadly virus.
Shih-Ping Nancy Wang and Wei-Hao Chen spent two days traveling to hardware stores - even as far away as Flint - to buy masks so they could be sent to their families living in Taiwan.
"The masks are very expensive and hard to come by in Taiwan," said Wang, a 2002 MSU graduate.
In total, they spent $400 on the masks, a small price to pay since masks are going for as much as $6 each in Taiwan, Wang said.
Because of a travel advisory earlier in the summer for Taiwan that was issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the two students were forced to cancel their plans to return home.
"I would go back to Taiwan if I could," said Chen, a park, recreation and tourism resources graduate student. "I'm not scared of getting infected; my biggest concern is re-entering the (United States)."
University Physician Beth Alexander said students from SARS-infected countries face a difficult decision when deciding whether or not to return home.
SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, is an emerging infectious disease likely caused by a coronavirus, which is known to cause respiratory illnesses such as the common cold.
Wang said canceling her plans to go home has been inconvenient and costly.
"It's all very annoying," she said. "I would like to go home - I miss my family very much."
Both Wang and Chen agree the media focused more on increasing death tolls caused by SARS rather than presenting ways to prevent the virus.
Alexander said preventing SARS is easier than the public might think.
"The single most important thing people can do is wash their hands frequently and well," she said. "It's amazing how many people forget that."
Chen said the media's portrayal of SARS might have contributed to some negative stereotyping of Asian people, something he experienced first hand at a local store.
"I coughed once and a lady looked at me like I was some kind of monster," he said. "It's unfair because I'm Asian. If a white person coughs, nobody cares."