Students to help with trade center clean up

By: Asra Jawaid
Contributing Writer

Students on this year’s Alternative Spring Break trip will get nationally televised recognition for their good deeds.

A few months ago, the CBS newsmagazine “48 Hours” e-mailed the various universities participating in this effort. Because student Alex Zarut responded to the mail, reporters from the show will interview all of the FIU students participating.

This interview will appear in an episode dedicated entirely to the various ways students spend their spring break.

Zarut, a junior, will spend spring break in New York City, helping clean up the debris that was left behind after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Fourteen other FIU students will join him on this nine-day adventure.

Zarut, the site leader, will be participating in this event on behalf of the Alternative Spring Break program run by FIU’s Volunteer Action Center.

“I [wanted] to go to New York City for this program since the bombings happened,” said Zarut. “Before that, I wanted to do something, but I wasn’t sure how I could make myself useful.”

Zarut also wants to help because of the magnitude of the bombings.

“This is the biggest tragedy,” he said. “Knowing that I can go and help would be an amazing experience.”

The 15 FIU students will depart from Miami on March 16 and return on March 24. VAC Assistant Director Patricia Temino will accompany them.

“I’m going, of course, to help with the cleanup. I also have family living in the suburbs, so it’s a balance of both,” Temino said.

“As soon as I heard there was a site going to New York, I knew I had to go,” said Christy Carbot, a junior who will participate for the first time this year. “I feel it’s my duty, like every American, to do something to help the victims. I believe this is my chance; it only happens once in a lifetime.”

After Zarut decided this is the project he wants to do and applied for an opportunity to go on the trip, it was approved.

Five of the other student spots have been filled.

Members of Alternative Spring Break were in the Graham Center promoting the trip. Applications for interested students are available, as is the opportunity to set up an interview, another requirement of potential participants in the Volunteer Action Center, located in GC 345.

Once in New York, the selected students have many activities planned. After a training session on the first day of their arrival, they will spend eight hours each day feeding other workers who are helping out and assisting in the rest area. They will be working with the Salvation Army.

In their spare time, the group does plan to explore the city.

“I’m not sure exactly where we will go, but after we finish our work for the day, we’ll probably do a little shopping and see some of the sights New York City has to offer,” Zarut said.

Freshmen and sophomores are always welcome to apply since they can participate in the program this year and, after coming back next year, recruit new participants.

Maturity plays an important role in deciding who will participate.

“Maturity is important because Ground Zero is a serious issue. We need people who can represent FIU in a dignified manner,” Zarut said.

Although fundraising, community sponsorships and student government have donated money to significantly reduce their cost, participants are still required to pay $95 in order to participate. This money covers everything from airfare to and from New York as well as hotel charges, food, and nightlife.

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