Alternative Spring Break signups begin

Food, a cappella groups entertain students waiting in line for chance at desired trip

Domestic trip signups for this year's Alternative Spring Break trips will take place tonight and tomorrow on the second floor of Wilson Hall. Organizers said they urge students and community members interested in participating to arrive early to ensure they get their requested destinations.

"Get there early because there are going to be plenty of activities all night long," said junior Jenny Lovell, a team leader for the Atlanta trip.

In past years, students have arrived as early as Thursday afternoon to get in line to sign up. Alternative Spring Break organizers will start a list at noon for prospective participants.

Friday at 7 a.m., organizers will start to go down those lists, offering trips to students on a first come, first serve basis. Students must remain in line to secure their spots. Students will also have to bring a $100 deposit fee to sign up for a trip.

This year, there will be food for students, and various a capella groups will perform to entertain the people in line.

Lovell, who will be participating in her third Alternative Spring Break, said she got in line at 6 a.m. on a Friday her freshman year.

"I wasn't concerned with the different locations, but the money issue appealed to me," Lovell said. "Back then, just like now, I didn't have much money, but I wanted to go somewhere for my break. Students should get in line with the idea of what they want to do, not where they want to go."

During her freshman year, Lovell helped AIDS patients in Atlanta and she said she plans to return there this year.

A service experience

While working with national and international communities, the ASB program trains and immerses students in a purposeful service experience designed to connect students and community members while enhancing personal growth, according to the mission statement on the ASB Web site. The program has existed at JMU for six years.

"The learning experience of college is more than inside the walls of the university," Program Director Deanna Durham said. "It's a big world out there and it's good to rub shoulders with it."

Numerous trips

According to Durham, 19 different domestic trips will be available for students to sign up for in the eastern United States.

Over the years, the Volunteers of America in New Orleans and the Nature Conservancy in Florida were the most popular sites among JMU students because students tend to sign up for them first, Durham said.

ASB also offers two international trips to Dominica and Costa Rica. There are also two domestic long-distance trips to Eureka, Calif. for environmental research on the Redwoods and to Brownsville, Texas to help Spanish-speaking residents.

Durham said these trips were filled on Oct. 30 along with all other co-sponsored trips. Several trips are co-sponsored with other departments at JMU, including the Spanish department and the nursing program.

Working as a team

Each trip will consist of a 12-person team. Each team will include two student leaders, one faculty learning partner and nine students.

"These trips are student-run and student-driven; the faculty go along to participate and to have an experience with students," Durham said. "It's a way for faculty to also step outside of academia; they're not there to supervise. The student leaders are responsible for the health and well-being of the group."

Keeping it simple

This year, no trip will cost more than $225, which pays for food, transportation, housing accommodations and work materials, Durham said. Based on need, students can seek scholarship information and applications on the JMU Web site. Durham also encouraged trip leaders to fund raise to bring the costs down for their respective groups.

Students will stay in low-cost or no-cost housing close to the site they are working at. It could be at college campuses, churches or community centers. Students eat for $6 a day per person. They will also cook, serve and eat their own meals as a group, according to Durham.

"A lot of the communities we will be at are low-income areas," Durham said. "The idea is to keep it simple. We travel and eat as simple as we can."
ASB coordinator Steve Wellington said, "Instead of wasting a Spring Break week and coming back with a bad hangover, you could have gone out, accomplished great things and met some amazing people.

"We all have this opportunity to go to college and this is a chance for us to give back," Wellington said. "It puts everything in perspective that there are people in this country that don't have the opportunities that we do. This is our chance to help them."

For more information, students can contact Durham at x8-2809 or go to www.jmu.edu/csl/asb.