An ad for a campus group wanting to put on a garage sale to raise money for Katrina victims -- a very noble endeavor, 11/18-19 at the Fingerhut center on Ridgewood Road here in St. Cloud -- asks this question of students:

Do you need to fulfill academic course volunteer hours?

What does "fulfill academic course volunteer hours" mean? You are required to volunteer? Isn't that a contradiction? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

If what they mean is service learning, they should be clearer. And I would have thought service learning meant a particular project designed to enhance a classroom. Setting up a garage sale takes some skill (take it from someone whose parents are antique dealers), but what is gained by just having students volunteer any ol' place?