The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 7, 1994 - 3 Push toward community service is replacing Diag protests . By JESSIE HALLADAY Daily Editor In Chief There was a time on campus when stu dents gathered in masses to protest every- thing from military involve- ment in Vietnam to minor- ity representation on cam- pus. Groups planned -- and actually executed - take- overs of the Fleming Build- ing, sending administrators into a state of panic. The University campus was at the forefront in protesting important and even many obscure events happening around the country and at the University. In recent years, Diag rallies have had less than large turnouts. In fact, un- less Hash Bash is included, students who protest on the Diag are usually outnum- bered by apathetic pass- ersby. Now the Diag acts as the social gathering place between classes instead of a hotbed for political de- bate. Now and then a lone voice can be heard trying to rally people around a cause, but these voices seem few and far between. They of- ten get lost in the cloud of apathy that follows many students. This is not to say, how- ever, that students have given up on making a dif- ference. In fact, Mother Jones magazine recently named the University as one of the top 10 activist cam- puses in the country. But as the magazine asserts - and many on campus agree - the focus has shifted from student protest to student service. According to adminis- trators, about 4,000 Michi- gan students are actively involved in community ser- vice. This includes every- thing from volunteering at Pound House to tutoring high school students in De-. troit. Whatever the activ- ity, the new push from ad- ministrators and students seems to be: get involved, be active. "I think there is a range of views on service," said Greg Shannon, co-chair of Project Serve and LSA jun- ior. "Some people look at it as walking down the street in an orange vest picking up trash and others see it as empowerment." "It's kind of a new form of activism," said Payal Parekh, an LSA senior. "You're giving back to the community and getting something in return." Parekh volunteers at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Mu- seum, helping to teach chil- dren about science. She said that not only does working with the young people in- vest in their future, it also invests in hers. With the push toward service from the White House, the University is looking at ways it can en- courage students to get in- volved. But the process of developing community ser- vice learning opportunities is not new to Michigan. In 1961, the University began a series of projects designed to get students working in the community for academic credit. Even- tually, these non-tradi- tional ways of learning were collected under the Office of Project Commu- nity. This office continued to develop and is now known as the Office of Community Service Learning (CSL). CSL has many responsibilities, which include publishing scholarly journals and writing grant proposals to obtain funding for student and University projects. Jeff Howard, director of CSL, said that the office had "always perceived our- selves as not in the center of undergraduate education." When the University pro- vided funding for the cre- JUE WESTRALEtIaily Students work in the Project Serve office on the second floor of the Union. -- - - n ~' ation of Project Serve in 1988, this validated the office's existence to Howard, who has worked full-time for the University since 1977. "I think it's the respon- sibility of the University to provide opportunities to cultivate educational and leadership opportunities which will also instill a sense of social responsibil- ity to the community to which we belong," said Shannon. Even as the administra- tion continues to talk about the importance of commu- nity service learning, stu- dents still feel the need to initiate projects themselves. "I don't really blame the administration (if there are not more programs) program, which will send University students to vol- unteer agencies in Febru- ary. "If the students took the lead, I think sometimes things happen faster," said Executive Director for Community Service and Service Learning Barry Checkoway. Such student initiatives have been taken with the development of the Alter- native Weekend programs through Project Serve and the Welcome Week activ- ity, Community Plunge. Developed in an effort to get first-year students involved as active members of the community, Plunge was planned and executed by students with staff sup- port. National servce program to start at 'U' By ANDREW TAYLOR Daily Staff Reporter P residential candidate John F. Kennedy stood on te steps of the Michigan Union more than 30 years ago challenging students to make his Peace Corps dreams a reality. Today the heart of activism has changed as energetic Americans offer their service to their own country. President Clinton tapped this movement by found- ing the AmeriCorps program last month, whih all- cated the University $750,000 to start more community service programs in the state. Organizers are still deciding how to spend the money, said Social Work Prof. Barry Checkoway, who is working closely with the program. The University's arm of AmeriCorps will focus On areas such as improving business, education, public safety and human relations. For example, student workers may set up summer camps for youngsters. "Otherwise many would not have the opportunity for summer pre-school activity," Checkoway said. He said, "We might have a safety escort program for older individuals," adding that specific programs have not yet been decided. Other ideas include prenatal care classes, home maintenance programs and neighborhood cleanup projects. In the first year, starting January, the program will hire 40 students, and expand to 60 in the second and third years. Half of the students will come from the following University professional schools: Business, Public Health and Social Work, the College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Institute of Public Policy Studies. The remaining AmeriCorps members will be hired from a pool of applicants. "I think there will be substantial interest," Checkoway said. Students will be expected to work 'two days per week during fall and winter terms, and full-time during the summer. National AmeriCorps guidelines specify students will be paid $7,500 along with a $4,725 college grant, for working 1,700 hours per year - an average of 32 hours per week. The program will be able to take more than 40 applicants but lacks the funds to pay them. "We'll encourage any volunteers and donations of time," Checkoway said. Aside from compensation, Checkoway said the money in the government grant will provide for thre years of expenses in travel, supplies, seminar course material and training. Many AmeriCorps programs around the country have already begun. Clinton's plan calls for 20,000 students to become involved with one of 250 selected nonprofit organizations. that much becau up to students,"j Bates, an LSA so who is heading th Alternative Sprin se it is all The University pro- said Abe vided about $8,000 to fund phomore, the day. Thirty-one com- his year's munity organizations pro- ng Breaks vided work opportunities in which student site lead- ers led over 400 incoming students on a day of vol- unteering. The program was de- signed with the idea that students would find out what kind of organizations are around Ann Arbor, and ideally inspire them to con- tinue their service during their four years at the Uni- versity. This goes along with Bates' idea of what service should be. "You've got to start off with immersion, but hopefully, you can move beyond that and see what makes the pot boil over and not just clean up the spill," he said. It is the "cleaning up the spill" part that most agree A student dressed like Santa on the Diag. thing about what they see and the students are more focused on making contri- butions to the betterment of society." But, this raises questions for Howard about whether or not students are less clear on the root of the problems. "I certainly think that our students have moved in a different direction of ac- tivism," said Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford. "I think our students are looking at something more tangible and more local." Hartford said she be- lieves that students view their role in community ser- vice as that of a "social change agent," not just a C! f a nc of cn.a _ .t :in FILE PHOTO Claus collects for charity punishment instead of go- ing to jail. Still others think of volunteerism. Some University stu- dents think of taking a class on Appalachia and then going there to work over Spring Break. "When they (students) get exposed, when they do Into the Streets or when they do Community Plunge, the message flip-flops," Bates said. He said he hopes stu- dents are getting the mes- sage that service is some- thing that can change the world if the problems are engaged. Service as scholarship is one of the primary ideas the University wants to pro- mote. Publishing the "Aithan lniira of nm faculty are showing that you can teach and do research in a community service set- ting," said Checkoway,who recently moved to the Divi- sion of Student Affairs to work on issues regarding service. How the University al- locates money to service is always at issue. Students agree that money given to programs like Project Serve i n tn ir n at f Terence." 'I don't think enough money is going toward stu- dent activities as a whole and, although student groups on campus do a phe- nomenal job with what they have, an increase in money would have a greater affect on the student body," said Shannon. But as more money continues to be allocated to ,he Un;v-;~t t nah I .. t: x ..:::.