There are plenty of UCLA students who are spending the week of spring break enhancing their suntans and frolicking at traditional meccas of fun to decompress. But spring break also represents another kind of opportunity for students who have opted to travel to other destinations. Think Detroit.

At the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, 10 graduate students have chosen to spend the week in the downtrodden Motor City to learn firsthand from city officials and leaders about the pain of insolvency and collapse of urban infrastructure.

Nobel laureate Randy Schekman is a UC Berkeley professor and a UCLA alumnus. From the pinnacle of achievement, Schekman credits public higher education as the foundation of his success. Schekman will participate in UC's Graduate Research Day, calling for more student support.