Spring break keeps
officers on their feet
By Chad Lorenz
Senior Reporter
Just because college students let
loose during spring break doesn’ t mean
police do.
Police departments at spring break
hot spots still enforce the law and in
some cases, bump up their efforts.
Sgt. Charles Morrison of the South
Padre Island (Texas) police depart
ment said the department brought in
reserve officers from March until mid
April to keep up with the surge of
crime.
During spring break, officers re
spond to nearly 400 calls in a month,
compared to 20 to 30 calls per month
the rest of the year, he said.
South Padre Island, a town normally
populated with 1,200 people, booms to
30,000 to 40,000 during the peak peri
ods of spring break, Morrison said.
Having so many people in South
Padre isn’t the biggest problem—it’s
having so many drunk people, he said.
“That definitely contributes to ev
erything else,” Morrison said.
SPPD officers respond to more
assaults and disturbances involving
alcohol, he said, but let the state deal
with alcohol itself.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission sends in at least 20 agents
to regulate underage drinking and lo
cal alcohol laws in South Padre, he
said.
Officers see more burglaries and
criminal mischief during spring break,
Morrison said, because people leave
their hotel rooms and cars vulnerable.
Sgt. Leo Picchocki of the Winter
Park (Colo.) Police Department said
noise and alcohol were the biggest
problems during March and April.
“When you have young people
drinking, you have music, you have an
increase in decibel level,” he said.
Officers respond to complaints of
noisy neighbors in hotels and condo
miniums and issue citations for major
disturbances, Picchocki said.
The department sticks with the same
size force all year, but can bring in
officers from surrounding towns for
assistance, he said.
W inter Park police will bust spring
breakers for alcohol. Sometimes ho
tels will ask for on-site security to
guard against underage drinking,
Piechocki said.
“The problem with spring break is
the kids who come out and drink are
underage.”
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Home state fun
Lack of money doesn’t have to hinder plans
By Doug Kouma
Senior Editor _
The beaches of Florida may be
warm and inviting, and the ski slopes
of Colorado may be cool and glamor
ous.
But they’re both
so dam expensive.
Geani Ronne,
of Four Seasons
Travel at 131 S.
14th St., said an
average spring
break package to
Florida or
Mexico could
5i—cost $600 to $800
per person. With S40 and $50 lift,
tickets, a ski package can cost even
more.
But that doesn’t have to stop col
lege students strapped for cash from
getting away for the break.
Ronne said relatively low air fare
rates to Las Vegas and Phoenix made
both popular sunny-weather destina
tions, although most flights in March
were likely booked.
For students set on the more popu
lar destinations, Ronne said, spring
break companies often offer low-cost
packages to Florida, Mexico, Texas
and Colorado. The packages use char
tered flights and book six to 10 people
per room, she said.
But the students don ’ t seem to mind.
“Most of the kids live in dormito
“Sometimes, just getting
away is fun. Fly to
Chicago, get a hotel and
go sight seeing. You
could do the very same
thing if you went to
Omaha or Kansas City
or Grand Island. ”
GEANI RONNE
Four Seasons Travel
ries,” she said, “so they’re used to that
type of environment where they’re
sharing a room with three or four
people.
“They just want to go and party.
vThey have a good time.”
But neither great beaches nor snow
packed slopes alone does a spring
break make.
“Sometimes, just getting away is
fun,” Ronne said. “Fly to Chicago, get
a hotel and go sight seeing. You could
do the very same thing if you went to
Omaha or Kansas City or Grand Is
land.”
Grand Island? For spring break?
It’s not as far-fetched as it may
sound.
Carol Owen of the Grand Island
Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, said
students on a budget could spend an
enjoyable week in Nebraska’s Third
City.
Spring break falls during the
“Wings Over the Platte,” celebration,
which attracts 80,000 to 100,000
people to the city over a six-week
period.
The celebration marks the migra
tion of the more than 500,000 sandhill
cranes that will pass through the area.
Many groups offer sunrise and sunset
tours, cookouts, campfires, hikes, ban
quets and workshops.
Want to spend a day at the track?
The 43rd season of thoroughbred rac
ing at Fonner Park will be in full
swing. General admission and a seat
in the clubhouse costs a mere $5, and
keno is the game of choice in the
nearby sports lounge.
For shoppers, Grand Island is well
known for its many antique and spe
cialty shops, and the Conestoga Mall
is one of the two largest between
Omaha and Denver.
For night life, Owen suggests the
Piccadilly Dinner Theatre, Nathan
Detroit sports lounge, or City Limits,
a popular bar among the college-age
crowd.
But, no matter what locale students
choose as their destination for spring
break, a little imagination and a little
money can make any place seem like
a choice destination.
Cyberbreak
Continued from Page 5
as a skier’s paradise.
To ski or not to ski, that is the
question. There’s still a problem
you’re overlooking, though, dear.
Transportation. Were you plan
ning on flapping your arms?
So, how to get you there, huh?
| Flying, perhaps? There are a couple
of places you can look. United Air
(http://www.ual.com) is a good
| place to start.
If you’ve got something against
United, there are several general
sites. Poke around the Yahoo yel
low pages (http://www.yahoo.com/
) and there’s a listing of airlines.
Another place is (http://
www.pctravel .com/) where one can
look for airline tickets and make
reservations.
Afraid of flying, huh? Well, there
are other options. You could go by
train. Try AmTrak. (http://
www.amtrak.com/) Trains don’t fly.
At least, not usually. After spring
break, however, what they do is
anyone’s guess.
Still not your speed, huh? If not
by land or air, then by sea, methinks!
Glance around cruise lines and see
if you want to go sailing. Granted,
it’s not cheap, but if you’ve got the
dough, be sure to go to (http://
www.srv.net/shop/cruise/
cruises.html/).
Can’t find what you’re looking
for at any of these places? Check
(http://www.travelweb.com/) and
see if they have any links for you to
follow. They have something to
send you just about anywhere.
You can always release your in
ner child and go where everyone in
America should go, Disney World!
My roommate, whose sister works
there, assures me you can NOT see
it all, but do what you can, dear.
Browse a little first at (http://
www.travelweb.com/thisco/wdw/
wdwhome/wdw.html)
Now that your plans are all set, I
want you to go out and have a
wonderful time now. Don’t get sun
burned, don’t have too much to
drink and look both ways before
crossing any street.
Ya’ll come back now, ‘hear?
Hicks is a freshman news-editorial
and English major and a Daily Nebras
kan staff reporter.
Left Behind
Continued from Page 4
be better off than his friends who
went on long-distance trips dur
ing spring break.
“They might have the advan
tage of having a good time,” he
said. “But they’ll have the disad
vantages of being broke, sun
burned and hung-over.”
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