JOHN STASER
Staff Writer
Spring break comes in all shapes and sizes. From the elaborate and super-expensive dream vacation right down to a week spent helping the needy, everyone has some kind of plans for their much-anticipated week off.
The U.S. Department of State, however, is urging all American students to take safety precautions this spring break, especially if their travel plans include leaving the country.
Vacation hot spots like Mexico and the Caribbean are overrun with hundreds of thousands of party-going teenagers, all with an unquenchable thirst for sunshine and cocktails. So it is important to remember that the voracious party atmosphere provided by locations like these can create dangerous and even fatal situations.
The State Department Web site reports that more than 2,500 Americans are arrested abroad each year during spring vacation. More than half of these arrests are made for possession of very small amounts of narcotics. Alcohol, too, can be a problem. It can result in arrests for public drunkenness, underage drinking and drunk driving.
Pepperdine students will no doubt be among the throngs who leave the country this March in search of good times.
Freshman Paul Martins and some friends are going to Cancun, Mexico this year.
“Safety is definitely a concern for us this break,” Martins said. “We plan on sticking together and making sure no one wanders off on their own.”
Martin’s plan for staying safe seems to be typical of most students traveling outside the United States, but at a huge destination like Cancun he and his friends would do well to take some additional precautions while abroad.
Freshman Kathryn Stirman and her close friends seized one possible solution to the woes of concerned students.
“We are going to Playa Del Carman, about a 30-minute drive from Cancun,” Stirman said. “The small town atmosphere makes for a way safer trip, especially if you have a lot of girls. There just isn’t the same level of crime found at the bigger destinations.”
Likewise, junior Jaime Ruiz and his friends “plan on using the buddy system. As long as there are least two of us together then we should be fine. Costa Rica is going to be ballin’.”
Sophomore Jaime Rapp, a veteran of Mexican spring breaks, said “the best way to stay safe on a typical college spring break trip is to go with a big group and stay with that group any time you go out. Losing a group member or finding yourself separated from all of your friends is frightening, especially in a club-like atmosphere.”
Rosemary Sampson, of Sato Travel Agency, said “the best thing to do is keep your passport close, not in a hotel safe, not in your suitcase, but on your person. American Passports are one of the hottest items on foreign black markets.” She went on to say that students should “have a good idea of the exchange rate and understand any early, late or cancellation fees their hotel may charge.”
Despite taking these safety measures, any disorderly or reckless conduct while abroad can have serious consequences. Encounters with foreign authorities can result in expensive fines and long prison sentences for actions that might be considered a minor infraction in the United States. Everyone 16 or older in Mexico is tried as an adult.
Some students, like freshman Katie Schaeffer, are headed to more exotic destinations. Schaeffer will be joining her family for an excursion to Thailand, a place that Schaeffer has “always wanted to visit.” When asked about her safety concerns, she pointed out some of the less common nightmares of travel abroad like kidnapping and sexual assault.
“I’ll be staying close to my family, so I’m not too concerned. But you can never be too careful; anything could happen,” Schaeffer said.
Still others, like freshmen Briele Lykes and Carissa Gipprich, will be staying in the United States this break. They are both participating in Project Serve and will be spending their break in inner city Philadelphia. “It’s a great opportunity to give back to the world,” said Lykes. “It feels good to share when we have so much.”
The two girls were not free from worry however. “I guess I’m most concerned with the possibility of robbery or assault,” explained Gipprich. “You can never be totally safe, even in the U.S.”
Clearly, safety is a concern for all travelers this spring break. The State Department has spring break safety information and tips posted on its Web site to help prepare and inform travelers of the dangers they face while out of the country.
The site strongly advises travelers to register their foreign travel plans on the State Department’s Web site at http://travelregistration.state.gov before the trip begins. This precautionary measure notifies the government of when and where travelers will be should any problems arise during their trip.
It also stresses the importance of responsible consumption of alcohol. “Alcohol is involved in the vast majority of arrests, accidents, violent crimes, rapes and deaths suffered by American students on spring break,” the Web site warns. Likewise, Americans are warned against the use of any drugs. Punishment for the possession of illegal substances is often considered a serious crime and “many countries have mandatory death sentences for drug offenses.”
03-01-2007