Activate This: Activism for the College Student Here and Now

Forget Sarasota and South Beach; this spring break many college students across the country are choosing to do something more than tanning and boozing with their time off.

New Orleans is a hotspot for students seeking to do service as an alternative spring break. Several EMU students are already heading there to help with construction through a Y-Trip team. Many other college students across the nation are doing the same.

This year humanitarian organizations like Break Away and United Planet are teaming up with colleges and entities like MTV to provide volunteers for various projects around the world. These projects include rebuilding destroyed homes, working with street kids, and meeting the needs of the homeless along with a vast assortment of other opportunities.

Campus Compact, a coalition of colleges committed to the civic mission of higher education, says that this spring there will be tens of thousands of students doing service in New Orleans. So if you are looking for something new to do this spring break to help others, or missed signing up for a Y-Trip, it's not too late to explore the option. Here are some websites with further information to inspire trips of your own.

Join a multi-college relief team in New Orleans with MTV: www.mtv.com/thinkmtv/asb/2007/

Meet the basic housing needs of families in Appalachia: www.chrisapp.org/

National Relief Network: www.nrn.org

A connection for people and initiatives that are bringing sustainable solutions to social problems: www.casefoundation.org