Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release
March 15, 2000

Spring Break Workout:  Lawrence University Students Choose Community
Service Over Sand and Surf


     APPLETON, WIS. -- Loading up the car or van with friends and the
barest of essentials and heading south is a time-tested tradition of
many college students in the northern latitudes when spring break time
rolls around. 
     Three groups of Lawrence University students will be among the
throngs headed to warmer climes next week, but they'll have matters
other than sand, sun and surf on their minds. 
     Trading term papers and final exams for a few lessons in community
service, more than three dozen Lawrence students will embark on three
separate week-long volunteer projects -- including a first-time
out-of-country excursion -- during the college's spring recess. 
       Six members of the campus organization VIVA! will travel more than
5,000 miles to Asuncion, Paraguay, where they will help build an
addition to a rural school founded by Swiss missionaries for children of
migrant ranch workers.   In addition to their sweat equity, the students
also are transporting 20 large boxes of goods and materials they've
collected, including three computers donated by Lawrence faculty
members, articles of clothing, school supplies and some basic hygiene
and medical supplies.
     "In addition to the material resources we will deliver to the
students of Pa'i Pucu, the trip will provide an opportunity for our
members to experience life in a Third World Latin American culture,"
said Gustavo Setrini, a freshman from Morris, Ill., whose relatives in
Paraguay will house the students during their visit.  "We'll experience
the culture of Paraguay and hopefully return to the U.S. with a better
understanding of the roles and responsibilities we have as citizens of
the world."
     Building and construction also will be on the agenda of 26 students
traveling to Columbus, Ga., as part of Habitat for Humanity's
"Collegiate Challenge."
     Members of Lawrence's student chapter of Habitat for Humanity, with
financial support of the local Fox Valley chapter, will spend a week
framing, plastering, roofing and whatever else needs to be done to
construct a new single-family home for a low income family in Georgia.
While the Fox Valley chapter of Habitat for Humanity provided the $500
"site fee" for the project, each student is still contributing $150 of
his or her own money to cover expenses on the trip.
     "It will be fun,² said sophomore Beth Halpren, who has been active
in Habitat for Humanity since her junior year of high school and serves
as co-president of Lawrence's on-campus chapter.  "We believe that
everyone has a right to a decent home.  For me personally, this is a way
to give back to a world that has given a lot to me."
     Perryville, Ark., will be the destination of seven women who will
spend the week volunteering for Heifer Project, an international
organization that promotes sustainable agricultural practices and
provides animals -- cattle, sheep, camels, llamas, water buffaloes,
bees, among others -- to hungry families around the world as a way to
help them feed themselves and become self-reliant.
     The students, who had to come up with nearly $200 each to finance
the trip,  will spend their spring break on Heifer Projectıs 1,200 acre
working ranch 40 miles north of Little Rock, with "working" being the
operative word.  The students will assistance in all daily chores,
including feeding livestock, preparing gardens for spring planting,
repairing and building fences.  The students also will participate in
several hands-on activities as part of the ranchıs educational outreach
program, including brick making, cheese making and goat milking.
     "This is such a great program," said Heidi Busse, a senior from
Clintonville who organized this year's spring break trip after working
at the ranch last summer as an educational outreach intern.  "It's a
great opportunity to learn how environmental issues, economic issues and
poverty are all interrelated."