OAKS offers choices to students during break
By Katherine S. Barber Special to the Kansan
Spring break doesn't always mean bikinis or ski jackets. For some students, it might mean staying at home with their kids or spouses and having too much time on their hands.That's why OAKS, the nontraditional student organization, sponsors the nontraditional Spring Break. The event will consist of three activities throughout the week of Spring Break.
The activities are geared toward nontraditional students and their families, but a student does not have to be nontraditional or a member of OAKS to participate. Any student who will be in town the week of Spring Break is welcome to attend, said Gerry Vernon, president of OAKS.
The first event, a family night of bowling is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Friday at Jaybowl in the Kansas Union.
Vernon said that this event was usually the event with the highest attendance, especially by those students who have children.
Bowling will cost $5 an hour per lane, so the cost for the student will depend on the number of people who are bowling on the same lane.
On Wednesday, March 23 OAKS will hold what Vernon called the "intellectual event." The group plans on touring some of the museums on campus from 10 a.m. to about 2 p.m.
The group will try to tour as many of the campus museums as possible, starting with the Spencer Museum of Art or the Museum
of Natural History. Afterward, they will eat lunch at a Lawrence restaurant.
In past years, OAKS had taken its Wednesday trip to museums in Kansas City, Mo., and Topeka. Vernon said that they decided to visit campus museums in order to show that the University is more than just a classroom experience.
"How many students go through these museums unless it's for a class?" Vernon said.
The nontraditional spring break will wrap up with a Friday golf tournament March 25 at Alvamar Orchards Executive Golf Course, a nine-hole golf course at 3000 W. 15th St.
This event generally has fewer children participating, but they are welcome, Vernon said.
If the weather is nice, the group might play 18 holes. If weather is bad, the tournament will be postponed until March 26, though Vernon said they had never had bad weather.
The cost is $9 for nine holes.
"We try to find activities that are inexpensive and fun and don't take much time," Vernon said. "It was also important that they could include the whole family."
Collin Reynolds, Independence, Mo., sophomore, said that he liked the idea of the nontraditional Spring Break because it would give nontraditional students an opportunity to participate in Spring Break.
"A nontraditional student can't exactly afford Panama City," Reynolds said. "Plus, most of us don't have the time because we will work a little more over Spring break."
Spring Break alternatives give free trips, experience to students
By Anne Sutherland Special to the Kansan
Landscaping, construction work and road building don't top most college students' lists of Spring Break activities. But Brian Trig, Lee Summit, Mo., senior, plans to do these things for free.
Trig, along with nine other students, plans to spend his week of vacation helping restore an adobe building on a Navaho reservation in northwest New Mexico.
Trig is one of several KU students who have opted to spend their free time volunteering through one of the several Spring Break alternatives sponsored by Lawrence churches.
Students who decide to volunteer can go to a wide variety of places, such as Denver, several areas in Appalachia or Tijuana, Mexico.
Costs of the trip range from $100 to $250 and cover basic expenses such as travel and accommodations.
Trig, who is going on his second trip through Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave., said that by working with the Native Americans at the Navaho Reservation he hoped to experience part of their culture.
"By being immersed in the Navaho culture, I think we learn to bridge the culture gap."Trig said.
Thad Holcomb, minister at ECM and coordinator of the Ghost Ranch trip, said the emphasis of the trip was to raise the
volunteers' intercultural awareness as well as help the people of the reservation
"We'll be helping renovate a hogan, which will be used as a community building, and doing land improvements as well as living on the reservation," Holcomb said.
Volunteers will work approximately five hours a day and still have time for a day trip to SantaFe, N.M., or to see other attractions. A trip to Chaco, an ancient archeological ruin located in a cliff in New Mexico, is planned as a special time for meditation.
Angle Holoubek, Hutchinson, senior is going on her second volunteer trip this year through the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, 1631 Crescent Rd. Holoubek is going to Tijuana, Mexico where they stay at Casa del Migrante with migrant workers who are on their way to the United States.
While Holoubek's group will volunteer to do whatever work needs to be done at the time, it plans to work with troubled youths and to get to know the people who live near the border.
"We'll probably learn a lot about the Mexican political system while we're there." Holoubek said.
Holoubek said the experience would help her in her studies as a social welfare major. She said that the rewards of the trip were getting to help and meet different people and that she planned to do some type of missionary work in her future.