Students to sign up for alternative breaks

The Alternative Spring Break program will hold a sleepover in the College Center Grand Ballroom Wednesday evening as a prelude to sign-ups for domestic trips the following morning.

Students can arrive at the ballroom starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday to receive their priority numbers in line. Between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. they can leave to get sleeping bags or food. However, if they are not back at the ballroom by 7:30 p.m. when attendance is taken, they will lose their place in line, senior Kristen Bertram, ASB co-coordinator, said.

The night before trip sign-ups is an event in itself with food provided by Buffalo Wild Wings, Papa John's and other local vendors, Bertram said. Various organizations like Madison Dance, New and Improv'd and Madison Project will perform for students in the ballroom, according to Bertram. The performances start at 8 p.m. and a different group performs every half hour until 1 a.m., Bertram said.

ASB sign-ups previously were held in Wilson Hall but with increasing turnout for sign-ups, the College Center Ballroom was selected to accommodate the growing level of interest, according to Bertram.
"This is our first time in the Grand Ballroom," Bertram said. "We used to be in Wilson but we outgrew it — we were sleeping out in the halls and all over the stairs, and it became a fire hazard."

Bertram, who went on a trip as a freshman, called the sleepover "just the beginning" of the sign-up process. "It's become a tradition," she said. "It's become more of an event (over the years). We make it fun with food and music, and learning partners come out to speak."

Based on attendance of about 100 people at a recent ASB interest meeting, it is anticipated that at least that many will take part in sign-ups. Bertram said that usually everyone who attends the sleepover will get a spot on a trip. There are 135 total spots available. Those not able to be placed on a trip will be put on a waiting list.

According to Bertram, there will be 15 domestic trips this year with 12 people per trip. Each trip has two leaders and one learning partner — a university faculty or staff member. Bertram stressed that the faculty/staff members "aren't chaperones but are along for legal reasons. They incorporate learning moments into the trips," Bertram said.

Some of this year's destinations include Miami, New Orleans, New York City, Jacksonville and Daytona Beach.

When students sign up for domestic trips Thursday, they must pay a $100 deposit. The total cost for domestic trips is $225, Bertram said.

For the first time, there will be three May session ASB trips available. According to Bertram, although the trip to Jamaica already is full, students still can sign up for trips to the Bahamas and Honduras. Students can sign up for the May session trips at any time in Wilson 204, Bertram said.

The Alternative Break Program exists through a special partnership between Community Service-Learning in the Center for Leadership, Service and Transitions, Presbyterian Campus Ministry, the JMU chapter of Habitat for Humanity and Catholic Campus Ministry.

Deanna Durham, Assistant Director of Community Service-Learning, said she is excited to be working with ASB in preparing upcoming trips.

Durham spoke about the importance of the ASB program at JMU. "What we hope we are doing is building a community here at JMU that encourages service and understands that it is a learning experience," Durham said. "We can serve, but in the process we are (also) learning a great deal."
Junior Tito Espinosa, ASB co-coordinator along with Bertram, became involved with the organization to try something different.

"Here I was a sheltered college student who was all of the sudden immersed in a community which had needs I could have never imagined," Espinosa said.

For more information on Alternative Spring Break and available trips, go to the organization's Web site at www.jmu.edu/csl/asb or e-mail asb@jmu.edu.