SEMO STUDENTS PLUNGE INTO COMMUNITY SERVICE

Southeast Missouri State University student Tara Benson must decide what to do with her Saturday afternoon -- clean apartments for the Safe House for Women, reorganize the Girl Scout library or help with a children's bicycle safety program.

Benson is among some 200 university students who will volunteer for a variety of community service projects Saturday during Plunge '99, the third annual event to encourage volunteerism.

Last year Benson painted walls at the Head Start center. "It was fun," she said. "I'm in a sorority, and a lot of times we do activities with the people in our sorority. This time we met a lot of people from different organizations."

Kristen Heine, coordinator for student involvement at the university, said the event is a way to introduce college students to volunteerism.

"A high percentage of students in high school are doing community service work," she said. "But when it comes to college, there are not the same avenues to do that kind of work."

Southeast established some avenues for service, she explained.

Community organizations ranging from the Cape Girardeau Police Department to Trail of Tears State Park were contacted about possible service projects.

"Some are basic things like picking up trash. Some are more involved. Some are more hands-on," Heine said.

Over the past two weeks, students, faculty and staff members have been signing up to help. "We will divvy them up and assign a team leader," Heine said.

From 12:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday, the teams will head out to work. Some will visit with residents at Ratliff Care Center. Others will clean up at Capaha Park. Some will clean apartments used by the Safe House for Women. A library at the Otahki Girl Scout Council needs to be organized. Cape Girardeau police are conducting a bicycle safety program for children and need some extra help.

At the end of the day Saturday, students will meet back together and talk about what they did.

"What did we learn? How did we benefit? How did the community benefit?" Heine said. "We hope to make a connection to the community."

The university is interested in well-rounded students, Heine said. "There is an academic component to this also," Heine said.