LIFESTYLE: Spring break, Philadelphia style

While some students are heading off to the Carribean or Ft. Lauderdale, others will be keeping the home fires burning back on campus Images of warm beaches, hot sun and late-night partying streak through the minds of most students as they make it through the last of their midterms and count the days until they can temporarily escape from the dreary East Coast winter. But while Cancun, the Bahamas and Jamaica may be the destination of some, Beige Block and the High Rises will be the locale of several students who will remain in Philadelphia this week. As many as one-third of the students at the University are estimated to be staying on campus over the break, according to Assistant Director for Residential Living Services Gordon Rickards. Catching up on schoolwork is a major incentive for overworked students to stay in Philadelphia over break. College senior Harry Sandick will be on campus working on the final touches on his senior honors thesis. Although he will submit his first draft today, he wants to take the time to refine his thesis, as it concludes the end of a three-semester sequence in the American History Honors Program. Sandick also will need the time over break to catch up with the regular coursework and extracurricular activities that he neglected as the deadline for his thesis approached. "It's the kind of thing where you get so immersed in one academic project that everything else gets pushed aside for the moment," he said. "You may have had plans for Spring Break but you turn them down . . . because you knew you'd have so much work to do." "People look at it as a break from work," Sandick added. "But I look at it as an opportunity to catch up and cover all the bases that I didn't have time to do over normal class time." Academics are not the only reason students are staying in West Philadelphia this week. Career plans, humanitarian endeavors and financial reasons are anchoring others to the home turf. College senior Paul Cyphers is staying to put in extra hours at his job at the Class of 1923 Ice Rink because he plans to travel to Europe or Japan when he graduates. He will also continue his search for a job in sports marketing over the break. Cyphers admits that he would rather not be in Philadelphia during his last spring at the University, but he thinks extra time on campus is beneficial for him. "I went to the United Kingdom last year, so it's kind of a bummer," he said. "I wish I could go away this year . . . but it'll be nice not having to worry about classes. It's a break between sets of midterms." Ben Matelson, a College senior, will divide his time between preparing for his upcoming professional career and relaxing with friends. "[I'll be] visiting some friends over the weekend in New York," he said. "I hope to spend some time visiting law schools I've been accepted to and the rest of the time just rest and recuperate. I'll be going home [to Trenton, New Jersey] for a few days at least. I'll mooch off the parents a little bit . . . get a little good food for a change." Matelson's feelings about staying here for his last Spring Break are mixed. He says he is excited to be finishing school but "kind of sad" that he will be beginning the last six weeks of his undergraduate career. Other students are combining time on campus with visits home or with trips to nearby tourist attractions. Engineering junior John Chen is going home to Metuchen, New Jersey for the first half of the week and returning to school as early as Wednesday to catch up on engineering projects that are due after break. And Nursing freshman Hili Katz said she is not going home to Los Angeles because it is too far to travel for such a short time. Instead she will take advantage of the chance to see the East Coast and will spend a few days in Washington, D.C. and return to campus on Tuesday to "work on the multitudes of papers and projects" that await her. Students are also reaching out to the Philadelphia community during this Spring Break as well. In the Alternate Spring Break program, 35 students have volunteered to build and refurbish abandoned houses for low-income housing for the international organization Habitat for Humanity. Some students will travel to West Virginia and Rio Grande, Texas, while others will remain in Philadelphia to participate in the second year the project has run at the University. College sophomore Anne Hyson explained that this program is not the typical Spring Break experience. "The emphasis of [Alternate Spring Break] is not to go somewhere, not to have a vacation," she said. "What it is is an opportunity for students to learn more about the community and about themselves through working on a community project." Of the three locations of Habitat for Humanity, the Philadelphia one is the most significant for many of the volunteers because it is where they live. Started with "nickel and dime" fundraising a year ago, the North Philadelphia Project and other divisions are currently SAC funded. The students contribute half of the trip's cost and raise money that the group gives as a whole to the community. For people like Hyson, the Alternate Spring Break Program is the preferred way to spend this week. Hyson asserted that volunteering is something that all 35 students clearly want to do. So while some University students are off enjoying the sand and the shore, others will be keeping the home fires burning. For those students, the University may seem quiet and empty compared to the usual buzz of campus life, but many say the time and opportunity will be valuable for all around.

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