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Community Service Learning Project or Fun in the
Sun?
It’s all the same at JMU…………Read on!
March 26, 2003
Daily News Record
Harrisonburg, VA
Dear Editor,
Play on the beach vs. work in the hot sun?
Sleep until late afternoon vs. wake up with the chickens?
Hang out with the party crowd until the wee hours of the
morning vs. go to bed at a reasonable time because you're
exhausted from the day's physical work?
Seems like a simple choice if you're a college student
deciding what to do for spring break. Because anyone choosing the second option would have to be
crazy - right?!! That's
what the administrators at the Florida Sea Base Boy Scout
Program thought when contacted and presented with the
opportunity to host a group of JMU students for a
week: "Why
would a group of college kids from James Madison University in
Harrisonburg, VA be willing to forfeit the opportunity to party
for a week and instead offer their time and muscles to a
community service project to repair hurricane damage created to
Munson Island in 1994 - AND PAY TO DO IT!
They can't possibly be up to any good - can they?" After
much discussion and consideration, the chance was taken.
There were no regrets.
During JMU's spring break (March 7-16th) I had the
extreme good fortune to serve as the learning partner and
accompany a group of eleven JMU students (and one 'gent not yet
of college age) who were participating in a community service
trip sponsored by JMU's Community Service Learning Office.
{With so many community service learning opportunities
for students is it any wonder under the valuable leadership of
Rich Harris and Deanna Durham that JMU is placed in the top 25
nationally for service learning on the list of "Programs
that really work"
in the U.S. News & World Report 2003 rankings guide?}
The group of young men and women that I accompanied
worked from sun-up to almost sun-down (allowing for a 2-hour
lunch/siesta break mid-day to avoid possible heat exhaustion or
stroke) cleaning up the beach areas, clearing nature trails,
constructing landscaping areas by outlining them with fallen
trees and driftwood found along the beach and in the woods,
constructing physical barriers out of seaweed (ask them how many
wheelbarrows of wet, heavy seaweed they moved - hundreds, or thousands? - Their
muscles can probably tell you), and working the 'chain gang'
(literally tossing rocks of various sizes around in the salt
flats to recreate a more natural environment). This took place
on a primitive island owned by the Boy Scouts off the coast of
the Florida Keys. Denied
the luxury of a bed (tents and sleeping bags were their
accommodations) and a shower for five days (no running water on
the island), they managed to tolerate the week (and each other)
by using baby wipes and baby powder (Gold Bond Medicated was a
favorite). Their
bodies were covered with salty perspiration as well as the salt
of the sea. They
had been dropped off at the island and had to wade about 100
yards to shore, carrying their gear and drinking water - the
water surrounding the island was too shallow for boats to get
close to shore. But
I saw beyond the sweat of their bodies.
I now understand what type of person would choose this
spring break option. It takes someone with an amazing sense of commitment and
someone who truly understands the concept of teamwork; someone
who is selfless, sincere and has a concern for others; someone
who knows how to appreciate others, and has a desire to go above
and beyond. Hats
off to all students volunteering for community service work –
whether they do it for a day or a week - but especially to this
group of OUTSTANDING students (did I mention they made the wise
decision to turn over to authorities a package containing
approximately 15 pounds of marijuana that
had washed ashore - found during one of their beach
cleanup sessions?): Andy Oh and Stephen Atwell (Co-leaders);
Andrew Kneale, Virginia Murphy, Lawson Ricketts, Sean Lambert,
Katie Keller, Katie James, Kimmy Casper, Erin Hoppe, Sara Newman
and Bryan Miller. Thank
you for memories of a lifetime!
Linda
R. Miller, Student Employment Manager, James Madison University
Virginia Tech Raising Tuition
Tuition for Virginia Tech
undergraduates will jump 9 percent next school
year
-- the third increase in less than a year.
The Board of Visitors raised tuition and
mandatory fees yesterday by $359 for in-state undergraduates and
$513 for in-state graduate students. Out-of-state undergraduates
will pay an extra $677 next year and out-of-state graduate
students $997 more. Tuition
for in-state undergraduates at Virginia's largest public
university has increased from a little less than $2,800 to about
$4,200 in two years. Total cost for a full-time in-state
undergraduate student who lives on campus next year will be
about $9,200.
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