Aggielife
Friday • March It
National Lampoon's TflMU Vacation '9
To hiff&ictes far and uside., mountains, grand and sma((, students begin Spring Sreak wiJ
«•
by Travis Hopper
Staff writer
F inally. The longest eight weeks of school have come to an
end and that holy of all holy rituals is now upon us: Spring
Break. It may seem that lately professors have not been
concerned with teaching students anything, but rather making
sure that students really appreciate their 10 days of pure, unadul
terated freedom. Honestly, how many people have had at least
two or three tests this past week, not to mention a speech and a
midterm project due that they did not start until Monday night?
Now that students’ brains are completely fried, what should they
do for the next week? Are you lacking inspiration? Motivation?
Have you spent countless hours pouring over the ins and outs of
the Murray State and Iona College basketball statistics, trying to
come up with the perfect NCAA tournament predictions that will
win $50 in the betting pool among a few friends? Are you looking
to continue the sinful ways of Mardi Gras in a different setting? Or
maybe you just want to relax.
Well, as I sat at home thinking of how funny it would be to glue
a live snake belly-down to the floor and watch it scare people, even
though it could never bite them, I decided that maybe I needed to
“spice up my life,” so to say, and have a wild Spring Break.
I set out to find what Aggies like to do for Spring Break, or more
importantly, what they can afford to do, and I came up with a pret
ty diverse set of options. So, turn off “Saved by the Bell” (unless it’s
the murder-mystery episode), throw some clothes in a bag and go
out and have some fun. If you don’t have plans already, here is a
sample of what some fellow Ags are doing that students can use for
their own personal inspiration.
• Fun in the Sun
For D’Layne Gerald, a sophomore marketing major, there is only
one place to be when March 16th rolls around.
“My roommate, three girls from my dorm and I
are going to South Padre Island,” Gerald said. “We
got a hotel room, and we are going to meet some
other friends from Fish Camp there.”
Padre, as it’s commonly known by us Texans,
provides a warm alternative to the chilly winds of
Colorado and New Mexico.
“Actually, I decided to go to Padre because I’m
tired of snow skiing,” Gerald said. “I wanted to go
somewhere where I could have a lot of fun, and
this just seemed like the place to go. I went there
this summer and had a great time at the beach,
shopping and going to Mexico, so I figured ‘Why not do it again?’
“There are also a lot of men without many clothes on,” Gerald
said jokingly. “That really doesn’t happen too much when you go
skiing, so it’s a definite bonus for Padre.”
Like Chevy Chase and Vacation showed us, getting there is
usually half the fun.
“One of the girls I’m going with has a Mustang convertible, and
we are going to pile our stuff into it, throw the top down and road
trip all the way there,” Gerald said. “I can’t think of a better way to
get to Padre than that.”
Willie Nelson once sang, “The night life ain’t no good life.” Ob
viously, he has never been to South Padre Island for Spring Break.
“When we get there, 1 plan on just laying out, relaxing in the hot
tub and going to the clubs at night,” Gerald said. “Like I said before,
the clubs were a lot of fun this summer, so I can only imagine how
good they will be at this time of year.”
Though snow skiing may not be the vacation of choice for Gerald
this year, she said it’s not for a lack of memorable events in the past.
“Last year, a bunch of my friends and I went snow skiing,” Ger
ald said. “We had about fifty people in a condo built for eight, our
car broke down on the way there and I remember waking up under
a table one morning and not knowing how I got there.
“Hopefully none of that bad stuff will happen this year,” Gerald
said, “but I bet we’ll still have a good time.”
• Hitting the Slopes
It happens every time. Students go to the beach for the weekend,
come home and then spend the next three days
trying to get all the sand that they inadvertently
carried home out of their beds and clothes. Marci
Holland, a freshman management major, said she
is hoping to avoid that this Spring Break.
“I am going snow skiing in Ruidoso, New Mexi
co, with about thirty other people in Fish Aides,
the freshman organization I’m involved in,” Hol
land said. “We’ve rented two condos, and we plan
on skiing for three or four days. Then, on the way
home, we’re going to spend an afternoon in White
Sands, New Mexico, just hanging out and playing
in the sand.”
Gerald
Hii
Holland
For Holland, she said it was easy to pick the cold winds of the
mountains over the hot Texas heat.
“I love to ski,” she said, “and my friends and I have been plan
ning this trip since the beginning of the year. In high school, I al
ways had tennis tournaments where we had to travel around
Texas to places like San Antonio, Houston and Amarillo. They
were pretty fun, but I never had an opportunity to go skiing. Now
I do, and I’m not about to let this chance pass me by.”
There’s nothing quite like flying first class, leaning the chair all
the way back, propping tired feet up on the tray in front and ask
ing the stewardess to constantly refill a glass just because you can.
There is only one problem with this scenario: it usually happens
once a student has graduated and actually have some money. For
now, the legendary and infamous “road trip” is the way to travel for
most college students.
“Since there are so many of us going on this trip, we are going to
caravan up there in a bunch of cars,” Holland said. "I have a car, but
I got lucky and I’m not going to have to drive. It’s a little more re
sponsibility than I want to take. I’m just going to sit back and en
joy the ride.”
When she gets to Ruidoso, Holland said she doesn’t plan on
wasting any time.
“I’m not really planning on doing a lot of shopping or hanging
out in the hot tubs,” she said. “I’m really anxious to go out and hit
the slopes. Maybe if I’m brave enough I’ll try snow boarding this
time, but I doubt that will happen.”
Once that dreaded Monday rolls around in so few days and the
grind of school has begun once again, Holland said she hopes to
look back as fondly on this trip as she does on many trips in her past.
“The best Spring Break I’ve ever had was when I went with a
bunch of friends to Las Colinas, Mexico, for a mission trip with
my church," Holland said. “We got to teach vacation Bible school
and help out around the town. It was a real eye opener to see how
they lived and led their everyday lives. This trip will be a little dif
ferent, but I hope I can spend some quality time with my friends
and have a lot of fun.”
• “Playin’ with the boys ... ”
The beach or the mountains? The mountains or
the beach? It’s a tough question that drives some
people crazy when they are trying to plan out the
ultimate Spring Break.
Not Jim Palmer. I JHj
“For the first weekend of Spring Break I’m dri
ving to Galveston with my roommate and about
ten or fifteen people,” Palmer, a sophomore biolo-
gy major, said. “Then, after that, my roommate, Palmer
two close friends and I are going to road trip out to
Ruidoso, New Mexico, and camp out. It should be a lot of fun.”
All this driving around the Southwestern United States
could be a potentially costly way to spend Spring Break.
Palmer said he has an answer for that one too. - ‘
“When we go to Galveston, we are going to go to
the beach and build a little campfire at night,’
Palmer said. “During the day we probably will just
bum around the beach, maybe catch some rays or
play football in the sand or something. I’m a big
sand fan, and at night, instead of trying to get a few hotel rooms
for all of us, we are just going to sleep in our cars on the beach.
“I’ve actually done a little bit more planning on the Ruidoso por
tion of the trip, which isn’t saying much,” said Palmer. “When we
get to New Mexico, we are going to find some caqrpgrounds around
the mountains where we can set up our tents. If it’s too cold at
night, the four of us will just pitch in and get a cabin or something,
but hopefully it won’t be too cold.”
The bustling night life of South Padre and the little Mexican bor
der towns draw many college kids who are looking to have a good
time and not remember any of it. Trying to find drunk people around
the clubs is easy. Ducks in a barrel, baby. Ducks in a barrel. This is
precisely the thing that Palmer said he wants to avoid this year.
“I’m kind of sick of Padre and that ‘all-alcohol,’ ‘chain drinking’
thing,” Palmer said. “I want to spend some quality time with my
best friends, just relax and not have to worry about anything im
portant. I just want to have some good, guy bonding time. That’s
what’s so great about camping out around Ruidoso. It’s away from
everything, and we can go fishing
during the day and hike up to the
highest point we can find. No re
pelling or anything like that, just hik
ing and enjoying the outdoors.”
• There’s no place like home
Sometimes students say they have
been there, done that. Last year they
hit the beaches at Padre or Florida
and all they have to show for it is a
iton for a day
I am heading
it of the time,’' Dili
imewhere, get
ay and then fis
Alter that, the
ups
lousy T-shirt. Two years ago, the trip to (Colorado leftya
like some mutant, red-and-white faced raccoon.
You’ve slept in your car just to say you’ve done
it, and you realize that’s about the only reason to
do it. There is one more thing to do for Spring
Break that some students probably haven’t done
since they ate Reese’s Pieces while watching
Drew Barrymore in her pre-drug addicted, E.T.
days: phone home.
For Mike Dillard, a sophomore marketing ma
jor, home is where his heart is.
“I plan on going fishing in Galve:
or two this first weekend, but then
back home to San Antonio for the re:
probably camp out on the beach sc
morning, mess around during the d,
with a few of my friends for a night,
home. 1 just feel like I need to get away from all of
Spring Break stuff for a while.”
While work will be the last thing on most peopk si
week, Dillard said he could not imagine it any others 1
“I’ve never really had a Spring Break before because
been working,” he said. “I just started a new business " 1
Industries, and I have to find some entrepreneurial-typ:
j
who are looking lor a way to imike money without sittis;
desk all day. It’s a hard thing to do, especially when lh^
and keep my grades up. So, having a week where I dr
worry about school at all is a blessing foi me.* .
“All work and no play makes Jack ,i dull b< y. I hose
iar with The Shining {or even “The Shinning” episodeof
son’s” at that) know this and use it as our standard excu-*^
ing off. Dillard said he knows this too, and though
working hard at home, he also plans to do plenty other ^
“There are a bunch of ponds and small lakes around
Dillard said. “Some days I’ll probably just load upmyir*^
do some fishing.” ^ ic
This may sound pretty harmless, but this scenariole r j
the funniest Spring Break memories Dillard said he can v j (
"One time, back in high school, me and some guys\u r j ()1
ming around San Antonio for Spring Break," he said. L
decided to go fishing out at Bud Lake. So we went outthr\ SS(
and a few friends, and we were just hanging out. Ofcoun* n( j
friends gets the bright idea that his big 4X4 truck can tre: bu;
peninsula real bad. Little does he know that the lakedrcdbr;
steep on the sides. Well, needless to say, he sunk his truckMcl
hood. We had to hook three trucks up together just topivhii
It’s pretty funny now, but I’m sure he wasn’t laugh ing too ice ii
All things told, soon Spring Break ’98 will be ye oi
md
□rv in our minds. Whether it
n\ in the- nd
in the snow, a day with frienY th<
with family, thesearetlit
make up the grej
Live it up, and do
you happy. You onlyfi
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All modems are available for general use by
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(ITU). For the most current information
about computing at Texas A<&M, keep an
eye on the Student Computing Information
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about the ITU standard and standard-
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