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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1997)
SPRING BREAK STUDENT SPECIAL 10 sessions for $20 with student LD. Offer good only with this ad Expires 3-31-97 Wolff System Bed & Bulbs i Midwest offers vacation fun on a budget By Julie Sobczyk Senior Editor Many UNL students dream of leaving cold, gray Nebraska dur ing spring break for a week of care free fun. But who has the money to af ford an expensive trip when stu dents are still paying off Christmas gifts and the semester’s book bill? Some travel agents say students on a budget can get away and still have some money left in their wal lets for souvenirs. Vicki Grieser, an office man ager with Travel and Transport, said some destinations near the Midwest make for an inexpensive, yet fun, spring break. “Some kids like to drive to the Ozarks, or Bransen, Mo.,” Grieser said. “It’s not warm like it is in the summertime, but it’s still fun.” A trip to the Ozarks could cost about $200, she said. Estes Park, Colo., Denver, Min neapolis, Chicago and Kansas City, Mo., are other popular vacation sites for the student on a budget, Grieser said. Most trips could be made for less than $200, she said. Joe Dierks, a freshman business major, said he planned on heading to Kansas City with his mother, 15 year-old sister and 17-year-old brother for a few days during break. “My brother and sister live in Columbus, and I don’t see them very often,” Dierks said. “My mom lives in Washington state, so I’m lucky if I see her twice a year.” Corning to college has made it hard to save money, he said, so tak ing a trip with his family was an easy way to get out of Nebraska. many oi ms menus are plan ning trips to warmer, more expen sive places like Florida and Mexico, Dierks said, but he’d rather go to Kansas City. “My family comes first,” he said. Kristin Wittmann, a sophomore horticulture major, said she is sav ing money by traveling with friends to St. Louis. Once in St. Louis, Wittmann plans to avoid hotel costs by staying with a friend who at tends Washington University. But St. Louis wasn’t her first choice for a spring break getaway. “I had really wanted to goon a cruise, but I just can’t afford it,” Wittmann said. “Going to St. Louis will be fairly inexpensive.” She plans to spend a few days there, she said, and the rest of her break will be spent having her wis dom teeth pulled (Hit. Andrea Wuethrick, a travel agent with Four Seasons, said stu dents could spend as little as $200 to more than $1,000 on spring break trips. “Students can basically spend as much as they want to on spring break,” she said. But the amount spent on the trip isn’t as important as taking a break, Wuethrick said. “The important thing is that they get away and have fun.” _!■■■■■■■ Photo illustration by Matthew Waitk/DN Staying safe Responsibilities linger at home I By Tasha E. Kelter Staff Reporter Whether you’re planning to spend your spring break in South Padre Is land, Texas, the South Pacific, or Can ton, South Dakota, there are a few things you should do to ensure your home stays secure and structurally sound while you’re away. Vacationers should try to get a Mend to pick up their newspapers and mail. This makes homes less inviting to burglars by eliminating the tell-tale stack of week-old newspapers. Anyone coming to pick up your newspapers and mail can also take care of some other things, like occa sionally turning the lights on and off, watering your plants, turning each faucet on and off and checking to make sure that the home stays a reasonable temperature—within five degrees of the temperature your home is kept at night. Leaving your home tor vacation can provide time for the chores to do themselves. For instance, put bleach in your toilet bowls (make sure there are no pets loose) or turn your oven on the automatic clean setting. However, if nobody is available to take care of the house or apartment, there are ways to keep your home se cure. Preserving print To suspend newspaper delivery, customers may call their newspaper and request a hold on their service. The Lincoln Journal Star offers three options for vacationing customers. They may have the delivery stopped for the duration of the absence and receive credit toward future Journal Star services; have the newspapers donated to the Lincoln City Mission or the Lancaster Manor; or the office can hold the papers and they may be picked up when the customer returns. Karina Greenlee, Journal Star cus tomer service representative, said cus tomers should call at least one day before they want the deliveries stopped. Tb hold mail delivery for a period longer than a day, vacationers may go to any Lincoln post office and fill out a “hold mail” card, said Kim McKinney, post office customer ser vice representative. The hold mail cards are yellow and located on the service counters. Although the cards can be filled out and processed at any Lincoln post office, McKinney said when custom ers return, they need to pick up their mail from their post office. . Water woes To ensure that pipes don't freeze during cold weather, vacationers should leave their furnaces on and their thermostats no lower than 60 degrees, said Sarah Siefkes, property manager of Claremont Park apart ments. % t_t.. _Ji i m_i •_ moujr vumoui ui mv i uuiu/mg advises vacationers who live in houses not to turn their water control off with out leaving the water heater on the pilot setting if they have a gas water heater. The water control should be located next to the water meter. If the water heater is electric, it can just be shut off, he said. Conradt said all the faucets in the house should be opened slightly, which won’t cause a drip if the water control is off. “If you take the pressure off the water pipes, they won’t burst,” he said. Conradt also advises keeping the thermostat around its usual setting to prevent freezing pipes. If the house is warm, there will be enough heat go ing through the walls to keep the pipes from freezing. Another method to prevent freez ing pipes is to wrap (nitride faucets with styrofoam can holders if freez ing temperatures are expected. Flora follies For vacationers with plants, there are several measures that can be taken to ensure the plants stay alive and healthy. Some plant owners put plants in an inch of water in the bathtub, but this is only advisable if the bathroom has a window. Beth Vanecek, salesperson with Gaga's Greenery and Flowers, sug gests watering the plants heavily be fore you leave, so that the plants are left sitting in one-half inch of water in the saucer. To keep plants from freezing, she suggests leaving the heater set to at least 60 degrees. 'j Shi ¥5 SiSOiYSy Vacationers who will be gone for more than two days and own dogs, cats, birds or rodents should either take the pet to a kennel, someone’s house, or have a friend feed, water and visit with the animal once a day. Cookie Wittier, co-owner of Pam pered Pets, suggests having someone visit a dog twice a day because dogs are used to that schedule of being fed, watered and let out or exercised. Whether to leave a dog in the back yard during the day depends on the weather, she said. Wittier said cats will generally be • OK with one visit a day. Heather Zimmerman, Pet Ark su pervisor, said birds and rodents also need to be fed and watered once a day, and have their cages cleaned every couple ofdays or as often as the owner • usually cleans it. “If (animals) get neglected, it could result in health problems for them,” die said. If finding a sitter for pets is a prob lem, some pet stores offer boarding at reasonable rates. Fish owners can leave their fish for up to seven days with a seven-day fish feeder, which is a block of food that disperses food into the water on an even schedule for a week. These can be purchased for about $3 in pet stores. Kyle Haeffner, owner of The Fish Store, suggests leaving the light off in the aquarium, but leaving the rest of the equipment, such as the heater, on.