"Students go to help, not party"

While many UB students will be soaking up the sun and partying this spring break, others are choosing to head to New Orleans to help the town of St. Bernard Parish, an area still severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Although the city of New Orleans has been receiving considerably less attention in the news than in previous months, the aftermath of the hurricane still largely affects the community.

Twenty inches of sludge and debris still litters the ground, while 100 percent of residential buildings received structural damage, according to Clark Dever, Student Spring Break coordinator.

"We're primarily removing debris," Dever said. "It will be a lot of grunt work."

Working with Habitat for Humanity, students will be housed in 15-person tents and given cots to sleep on, along with three meals a day. The total estimated cost for the trip is $19,450, a rate of about $350 per person. The price includes airfare, necessary clothing and equipment for the conditions students will be working in.

Currently, $8,000 has been donated for the trip. Delaware North Companies, Student Life, the Graduate Student Association and Resident Halls Association have all contributed to funding.

"This isn't just a spring break trip, but it's also a student fund raising event," Dever said.

So far, 85 students have expressed interest in participating in the trip, but organizers anticipate about 50 students will end up going. Organizers originally hoped 30 would sign up and are very pleased with student interest.

"I never expected this many people," said Mary Clare Fahey, coordinator for Community Service-Learning. "These people have lost everything but their lives, and I am so proud to be involved with something like this."

Dever said he believed the trip would benefit UB's reputation and help fight the stereotype of student apathy.

"It shows UB's character," he said. "It proves you can make a difference if you take a proactive stance. In two weeks we got 50 confirmed people going and thousands of dollars in funding."

In order to go to New Orleans, students are required to acknowledge any health problems that could put them at risk. Asthma, mold/spore allergies, a compromised immune system, and steroids are just some of the problems that could deter students from going.

While the safety of being exposed to the sanitation in New Orleans is still a controversial topic, some students appeared to be un-phased by the risk.

"It worries me a little, but these people live there, I think I can handle a week of it," said Alexis Szczur, a graduate student in social work. "But it's what I want to do, it's the American thing to do."

"I trust that they wouldn't send the average person to a place that isn't safe," said Robert Hinds, a junior theatre and English major.

For everyone's safety, students are required to wear N95 respirators, eye goggles, nonporous work gloves, and steel toe, steel shank work boots.

According to Dever, the sanitation where they will be working is not a great concern.

"Working down there is no real risk to healthy people," Dever said.