Thailand-Burma Alternative Break trip still on despite coup
A bloodless military coup in Thailand last week will not affect the alternative winter break scheduled to go to the Thai-Burmese border as of now, said Theresa Miller, co-coordinator for the trip and senior in the School of International Service.
"We're monitoring the situation," Miller said. "I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen at this point."
Whether or not the trip will proceed depends on how Miller and her co-coordinator, Tim Renner, an SIS graduate student, feel about the level of safety in the country. The trip also has to be approved by a committee of AU administrators.
A Thai general said the military would hand over power to a civilian in two weeks as of Tuesday. Miller said she is waiting to see if that happens and how the Thai people react. Miller also said they have been in contact with people living in Thailand right now and have asked them how they feel about the situation.
Part of the decision to continue with the trip will be based on what is happening in the country politically and what the foreign people living there think, she said.
The trip, which is scheduled to take place Dec. 28 to Jan. 14, will focus on the Burmese democracy movement, Miller said. Twelve or 13 students will attend the trip.
Endowment awards grants to FSE volunteers for continued service
Four students will continue to volunteer at their Freshman Service Experience sites because of a $1,000 grant awarded to them by the Eagle Endowment for Public and Community Service.
Alexx Bant, a freshman in the School of International Service, volunteered at Community of Hope in Columbia Heights. Bant and other members of his FSE group will continue to volunteer at the site's after-school program.
Freshmen Sarah Lazarakis, Alyssa Farrelly and Hayley Heinekere-Cox won the second FSE grant. The girls worked at the Emergence Community Arts Collective where they will continue to beautify the outside of the building and paint an indoor mural.
This is the first time a grant was awarded to help FSE participants continue their work.
According to a press release, "The Endowment awards grants up to $1,000 to students and student clubs demonstrating a need for the initial resources to propel an original idea into action." The Endowment then continues to aid the grant recipients by teaching them how to continue their projects.
