From: Subject: No break here: Wayne State students forgo getaway to help brighten up city Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:51:50 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0051_01C88814.85EA2FE0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0051_01C88814.85EA2FE0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080314/METRO/803140357/1409/METRO No break here: Wayne State students forgo getaway to = help brighten up city

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Friday, March 14, = 2008=20

No break here: Wayne State students forgo getaway to help brighten = up=20 city

Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- One week of living in Detroit and volunteering in = some of=20 its neediest neighborhoods was all it took to convince Brittany Betham = that she=20 has a stake in the city's future and the power to make some positive = changes.=20

A native of suburban Livonia with little exposure to Detroit beyond = the=20 theater district, Betham's choice to spend her freshman-year spring = break in the=20 city was such an eye-opening adventure that she's returned three times. =

"I didn't come into this experience thinking we are going to save the = city,"=20 said Betham, 21, taking a break from constructing a sculpture for a = local=20 elementary school. "But we do help out in a small way. =

"It's not so much that we change the city, it's that 40 new people = come away=20 feeling connected to the city and want to help out in the future."

Betham and the 39 other Wayne State University students this week = have been=20 cleaning, painting and volunteering throughout Detroit as part of the=20 university's alternative spring break program. It's the program's fifth = year,=20 and unlike other college alternative spring break programs where = students travel=20 to places like New Orleans to help, Wayne State students always stay = put,=20 believing there's much support they can offer to their own city.

This year, they were joined by students from University of North = Carolina,=20 Chapel Hill, who braved snowstorms and highway spinouts to come here, = spending=20 their spring break volunteering in Detroit and Dearborn.

Their goal: trying to make the community a bit better "one step at a = time,=20 one flier, one trash bag at time," said Imani Jamal, a Wayne State = sophomore=20 from Detroit, after canvassing a neighborhood with fliers on home = improvement=20 loans and grant opportunities.

Wayne State students must apply to the program. They pay a $65 = participation=20 fee and agree to live in the basement of a local church for the week, = sleeping=20 on the floor. They spend their mornings learning about the city and its = crime,=20 blight and homeless problems. By the afternoon, they've flocked to food = banks,=20 neighborhood community groups, burned-down houses and youth centers, = hoping to=20 make a positive impact.

Many of the students are strangers and come from vastly different = backgrounds=20 -- cities and rural townships. Black and white. Male and female.

"The one thing they have in common is they want to do volunteer = work," said=20 Tiny Sebastian, Wayne State adviser for alternative spring break.

Alternative spring break programs are becoming increasingly popular, = as more=20 students choose building homes and cleaning up parks over basking in the = sun in=20 a warmer location.

More than 50,000 college students are expected to participate in = alternative=20 spring break this year -- setting a record, said Jill Piacitelli, = executive=20 director of Break Away: The Alternative Break Connection.

Michigan colleges remain one of the strongest, if not the strongest, = group in=20 the nation for using alternative spring break to promote positive = citizenship=20 and leadership, Piacitelli said. But Wayne State is unique by focusing=20 exclusively on its own backyard, she said.

"Alternative spring break is a little bit of a trick," Piacitelli = said. The=20 trip is designed to "galvanize you and give you an understanding of = social=20 issues." But the big point is when you get back to your own community, = you have=20 the tools and motivation to help out there, she said.

"If Wayne State is skipping the middle step, then, all the better," = she said.=20 "The trip is the trick to get people interested in their own = communities. The=20 break fails if it doesn't translate back home."

Shannon Montgomery had such a positive experience with Wayne's = alternative=20 spring break last year, she returned again this week as one of the group = leaders.

"I think the most rewarding thing for me was when we were cleaning = out the=20 burnt-out house," said Montgomery, 19. She lives near the Forest Arms = apartment=20 complex in Detroit that caught fire this winter. "I know a lot of people = who=20 have been affected by fires. And it was really something that hit home = for me.=20 I'm glad we had a chance to do that."

Julie Baranowski, a Wayne State senior from Richmond, also returned = for her=20 second spring break in Detroit while many of her friends are in Cancun, = Mexico.=20

"Going to school down at Wayne State was hard for me when I saw = homeless=20 people and all the burned-down buildings," Baranowski said. "It was = something I=20 had never experienced before. It made me want to get involved and see = what I=20 could do to help out."

You can reach Marisa Schultz at (313) 222-2310 or mschultz@detnews.com. =

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Wayne State University junior Brittany Betham helps = paint a=20 mural at Woodbridge Community Youth Center in Detroit on Monday. = (Elizabeth=20 Conley / The Detroit News)

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