Students Trade Tans For Toil Over Spring Break

The usual spring break destinations for college students promise sun, sand and surf. But during the University of Cincinnati’s spring break March 21-25, dozens of UC students will join a growing national trend, volunteering service as part of Alternative Spring Break.

Break Away is a national non-profit organization that prepares and connects leaders for Alternative Spring Break programs. The organization was launched in 1991 with only two students. Break Away membership director Jillian Somers says Break Away is now liaison to nearly 120 college campuses across the nation, assisting roughly 30,000 students in planning their service-oriented trips. “The trend is growing every year, as student excitement grows about doing something that’s meaningful over spring break,” Somers says. “Also, service-learning programs are gaining popularity at universities, so now these Alternative Spring Break programs are considered for curriculum and college credit as well as for contributing hours in community service.”

At the University of Cincinnati, Alternative Spring Break trips are organized by campus divisions including the UC Center for Community Engagement and UC campus ministries.

Other trips are being planned by academic divisions, as University of Cincinnati students stick with their studies over spring break, but make the world their classroom as they head overseas.

Here’s the full roundup:

Alternative Spring Break

Reynosa, Mexico – The UC Center for Community Engagement is organizing a trip to Reynosa, Mexico, a city that’s over the border from McAllen, Texas. A team of 11 students will construct six rooms to serve as additional living quarters for foreign aid workers. The group departs Cincinnati on Friday, March 18 and returns on March 25.

St. Louis, Mo. – Six UC students representing the St. Monica/St. George Newman Center will offer service in coordination with St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic Church in northern St. Louis. The students will examine structural and root causes of poverty and racism and will participate in community service projects that include tutoring children in the neighborhood. The trip is scheduled for March 19-24.

Miami, Fla. – A group of 30 members of the UC student chapter of Habitat for Humanity will head to Miami to help build affordable homes for low-income families. The UC students will dedicate nearly 40 hours of their spring break to working at the site. The group departs Cincinnati on March 19 and returns on March 26.

Panama City, Fla. – The UC Collegiate Ministry will be in Panama City March 19-24 for BeachReach 2005. Fifteen UC students will join hundreds of other students celebrating spring break on the streets of Panama City. However, the UC students will be serving free pancake breakfasts, and in the evenings they’ll be offering free van rides to vacationers in need of safe transportation.

Frakes, Ky. – A group of 22 students representing the St. Monica/St. George Newman Center will travel to this Eastern Kentucky region March 20-24 to volunteer with the Henderson Settlement, an organization that assists isolated, impoverished Appalachian communities. The students will volunteer with construction projects.

Louisa, Ky. – A group of seven students representing the St. Monica/St. George Newman Center will work with St. Jude Church in Louisa, Ky. to distribute food and other goods to Appalachian communities. The students will work under the supervision of Fr. Ralph Beiting, who has served Appalachian communities for 30 years. The trip runs from March 19-24.

Service-Learning Trips

UC defines service-learning as “a reflective educational experience in which students earn academic credit by participating in meaningful service activities. Service-learning experiences are designed to foster deeper understanding of course content and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility.”

Study Abroad With Habitat for Humanity
The College of Business (CoB), in partnership with the UC Romance Languages Department in the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, will offer a Habitat for Humanity service learning program in Costa Rica from March 17-27. The group of three Spanish majors and 11 undergraduate CoB students will work on a Habitat for Humanity home for five days and spend the remainder of the trip exploring different regions of Costa Rica. The students will be accompanied by Lee Armstrong, assistant director for international programs, CoB, and Siusan Durst, adjunct associate professor, Romance Languages and Literatures.

Other Overseas Academic Trips

Literary Tour of Venice
A group of 16 students will travel to Venice March 17-25 to visit museums, churches, palaces and synagogues. They’ll stay at the Pensione Bucintoro, where 19th-century artists such as Whistler, Sargent and Duveneck painted from its windows. They’ll also take boat rides to islands like Murano, with its glass-blowing factories, and Torcello, with its cathedral that’s more than 1,000 years old. Eleven of the students are earning college credit on the trip, led by John Drury, professor of English, and Beverly Brannan, field services instructor.

The Printed Page Comes to Life
A group of 12 of UC’s Honors Scholars will travel to England March 18-25 as part of their special topics course, “The Printed Page: From Victorian to Virtual.”  The course blends the study of literature with book history and design. During spring break, the Honors Scholars will tour London and Oxford to visit the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the St. Brides Printing Library, which houses the largest collection of paper, printing history and typography in the world, and they will visit Kelmscott House, the London residence of William Morris, known as one of the most influential artists of the Arts and Crafts period. Other stops will include the Tower of London, National Gallery, London Theatre and the birthplace of Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace in the village of Woodstock, near Oxford. The course is co-taught by Barbara Wenner, associate professor of English and comparative literature, and Jane Carlin, senior librarian for the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) Library.

Diving into Spanish Rowing Club Project
Six juniors from UC’s College of Applied Science will travel to Valencia, Spain, to present two designs by their class for a rowing club along the city’s New Turia River. The students in an Architectural Problems III class, led by J.D. Coleman, assistant professor of construction science, were invited to brainstorm ideas for a club by a local architect. The UC group will leave Cincinnati for Valencia on March 16 and return on March 24.

Students Get a World View of Doing Business

Chiang Mai, Thailand – A group of 15 graduate students will study Thai and Southeast Asian culture, politics, business and cross-cultural management on their trip March 17-26. Raj Mehta, associate professor of marketing, and Bipin Prabhakar, assistant professor, information systems, will accompany the students as they also visit businesses and focus on learning about doing business in a developing company.

Nantes and Paris, France – Students representing UC’s MBA and master’s of arts administration programs will spend six days in Nantes learning about French, the European Union and American trade issues, as they study with French MBA students. From there, the group will visit companies in Paris. The March 16-25 trip is led by Larry Gales, associate professor of business management, and Andrea Dixon, associate professor of marketing.

Montreal, Canada – The College of Business (CoB) joins the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) to offer this intensive three-credit-hour elective from March 19-26. Thirteen undergraduate students are traveling to Montreal with Sharon McFarland, field service assistant professor of marketing, and Alex Lopes, assistant professor, information systems. The course will explore cultural contrasts and management and bilingual marketing issues regarding French-speaking Canada. In addition to attending classes taught by a UQAM professor, students will visit local companies.

Back in the United States

Student Delegation Travels to the United Nations
Seven undergraduates will represent the nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch as delegates to the National Model UN in New York March 22–26. Senior Angela Glaser is head delegate and President of Political Science Student Association.  In preparation, the group attended the Dayton Model UN Feb. 10 -12 and the American Model UN in Chicago last November. In New York, two sessions are conducted at the United Nations, and the group will receive a briefing from Human Rights Watch staff at their office.