Multimedia Reporting (Fred-Musser)

Last Spring Break Lake Wooten, Shawnee junior, spent time in Denver volunteering for Native American Cancer Research. During his experience, Wooten helped set up a database for the program so they can keep track of patients. "They are very traditional with some of them still living on the reservations, " Wooten, Alternative Breaks site leader, said. "So there is a lot of disconnect between them and their health care providers." This Winter Break, 49 students from the University of Kansas will participate in a volunteer program that focuses on community service in other parts of the country.

Even though the fall academic semester ends on December 15th for KU students, the Alternative Winter Break group of students continues beyond semester's end for service work January 6th -13th.

Alternative Breaks is a program that gives KU students the opportunity to assist distant communities through teaching, planning and interaction during their time off from school. Leading up to the break, students attend classroom meetings where speakers from various organizations inform the participants about specific issues they'll encounter.

Katie Jahnke, Shawnee junior, became involved three years ago. She says giving up a break is worthwhile and valuable from a personal development standpoint.

"Helping those who deal with certain problems such as poverty or AIDS was a different and challenging experience," Jahnke said.

Jeremy MacVarish, Kansas City, Mo. junior, traveled to Taos, N.M. volunteering with the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps during Spring Break 2005.

"Assisting those who were less fortunate was something that I truly enjoyed," MacVarish said. "Tutoring students in after-school programs helped them with problems not only for the short term, but for the future as well."

In January, the Alternative Break program plans to send volunteers to assist in areas of repair from Hurricane Katrina in Tupelo, Mississippi and improving independence for children dealing with cerebral palsy in Dallas.

The weeklong trip will include seven sites with seven students participating at each location. One of the sites is in partnership with Teach for America in Chicago.

"I've never really worked with high school kids before, so I think it will be a good experience and I'm actually thinking of applying to Teach for America," Kelli Connelley, Wichita senior, said. "So this will be a great way for me to figure out if this is the kind of work I'd like to do in the future."

According to Jahnke, the overall goal is not just to help out those in need, but provide KU students with an opportunity to volunteer and grow on a personal level.

She said site leaders are responsible for organizing trip details, maintaining contact with the site and leading small group meetings.

"They arrange for student volunteers to remain on the same page at an early stage," she said. "Once the classroom sessions are over we feel students are better prepared for their particular activity."

Since the establishment of Alternative Breaks at KU in 1995, the program has added volunteer opportunities each year. In addition to the winter break program, Alternative Breaks also established spring and weekend breaks for students to volunteer.

According to Jahnke, besides giving up time during break, the only problems preventing students from joining are the price for participating and devoting time to the program.

"We encourage volunteers to stay involved with the program, but at the same time realize the commitment it takes to keep Alternative Breaks successful," she said.

Despite the $225 fee to participate or $175 if they become a site leader, Jahnke said this year's volunteers exceeded expectations.

Jahnke said her memories helping with United Cerebral Palsy in Dallas last year with the program was something that she won't forget.

"Seeing smiles on children's faces was a main reason why I wanted to continue being apart of Alternative Breaks," Jahnke said. "I just hope that other student volunteers will receive the same outcome that I've received."

Each site works on a specific issue ranging from environmentalism to health and social community service.

Wooten said he is optimistic in mentoring children in Kissimmee, Florida with the program, Give Kids the World, a village for children that have life-threatening illnesses.

"These children and their families have been going through unimaginable strife and trauma worrying about their health," he said. "It's a place where they can escape all of that and have a lot of fun."

The program expects to have nearly 70 applicants for the Alternative Spring Break in 2007 that will attend 10 different sites across the country.

"There are many new faces going on this winter's trip and I'm hoping that they'll have the same experiences I had on my first trip," Jahnke said. "I've enjoyed all of the breaks, but the first one was what got me hooked."

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Dine and dash takes a dip out of business for two Lawrence late night dine-in restaurants.

Ramon Lara, IHOP manager, said customers that skip out on the check prompted the restaurant to employ temporary security.

"We feel that our newly hired on-site security personnel should prevent people from not paying," Law said.

IHOP and Perkins are two competing franchises in the 24-hour dine-in restaurant market that deal with customer walkouts.

Waddah Ghosheh, Perkins manager, said most weekends are pretty calm but he is aware of the dine and dash problem.

"For the most part everyone really behaves well," Ghosheh said. "They're not rowdy but every now and then we have a dine and dash that we try to guard against."

He said it is difficult to keep tabs on large parties because there aren't enough employees to watch everyone.

Ghosheh said he doesn't shy away from a customer's request to split up multiple checks.

"Particularly on the late night we make sure nothing gets lost in the shuffle, "he said. "If you have 10 checks for a group of 8 to 10 people, unless you're keeping track, it's hard to divide who is paying for what."

Max Weis, Wichita junior, said he's seen people not pay in Lawrence before because employees don't seem threatening to college students.

During last month's late night experience at IHOP, Weis said a uniformed officer on duty detoured the likelihood of somebody skipping out on the check.

"Even if he is just a rent-a-cop people might be afraid to run out," Weis said.

To prevent against people from not paying for their meals, Perkins installed surveillance cameras at the register and front entrance.

Shannon Blasé, Perkins manager, said security procedures are in place to help prevent against those that skip out on the bill.

"I know in the past we had security, but those were on nights in years past that we were really busy, " Blasé said.

Blasé said some hostesses follow customers out into the parking lot if they don't pay for their particular bill.

However, she said many schemes to dine and dash usually come during crowded situations at the register.

"If someone is going to dine and dash they're probably going to come up with a thought that they're going to dine and dash," Blasé said. "They'll just sit there and wait for the opportune moment when there are 20 people up front and they'll go."

This fall, IHOP no longer splits checks for weekend customers after 11:00 p.m.

Weis' late night experience at the Lawrence IHOP last month displayed his concern for splitting checks.

"We basically sat there for about three hours waiting for our food," Weis said. "I was okay with it because, honestly, I was drunk, so I didn't really care."

Ghosheh said that Perkins doesn't have a problem with splitting checks.

Perkins employees encourage a speedy process for customers at the register but remain strict on those who choose to dine and dash.

"Sometimes it is on purpose and sometimes they thought their friend took care of it," Ghosheh said. "A lot of times we catch it before it's too late, before they make it to the car or we get a license plate, " he said. "When it is intentional we do take it very seriously, we prosecute."

Blasé said customers under the influence of alcohol make it difficult for Perkins' employees.

However, she said in some instances the problem is resolved peacefully.

"I think a lot of it is either spur of the moment or just someone who is too drunk to remember," Blasé said. "We have actually had people who leave and then they'll come back the next day because they just didn't remember."

Despite IHOP's decision to no longer split checks during late-night hours, Perkins plans on honoring customers' request to divide checks.

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