Spring break is upon us, and the revelers have gone to the mountains, the beach or their parents' basements. Luckily for everyone, there is no shortage of advice in the media for how to properly spend your spring break. Here, we've brought together the most salient points.
DON'T go to Mexico.
Numerous colleges from UCLA to Fresno State have warned their students against going south of the border, which has recently seen a rash of violence. The Texas Department of Public Safety has similarly advised travelers to avoid the country after murders in Ciudad Juarez and Acapulco.
DON'T drink and go on on a balcony (or go swimming).
University of Illinois-Champaign's Director of Student Legal Services Thomas E. Betz
emphasizes the importance of staying on land while inebriated in the Washington Post:
Every year intoxicated students jump, fly and fall off of spring break balconies. If you cannot glide like an eagle while sober, it is fairly likely that you will not soar much better while drunk. This goes for swimming, too. You do not want to drown or become shark bait.
DON'T use a credit card.
According to the Boston Globe:
Students typically have very high credit card rates, and your trip can easily cost double or triple if you charge it and then pay it off in increments. For example if a $500 charge on a card with a 20 percent interest rate is paid off at $100 per month, the total cost will be $970.
To save money, the Globe also recommends that student travelers bring their own food to destinations, avoid using ATMs and drink fewer expensive fruity cocktails.
DON'T take a spring break.
If you're in the Illinois government, that is. According to the Chicago Tribune, Gov. Pat Quinn called for the state's legislative body to stay in session this spring to sort out their budget crises.
"I really feel the legislature shouldn't take a break, a holiday, until they vote on this tax increase," said Quinn during an appearance at Morton Community College in Cicero. "I think when you're in a crisis, members of the legislature have to have an urgent sense of duty and an urgent sense of acting."
But as long as you're not in the Illinois legislature, feel free to have fun.