Bad Timing on Spring Break? For every college student, it is the pinnacle time to get away from the drudgery of classes and monotonous routine. Often, it's a time to enjoy the weather. That's what we believe anyhow. You turn on any of those "buzz" TV stations and you'll see "Such and Such Spring Break 2001" splattered all over its broadcast with people in skinny swimsuits with white sand underfoot and blue water in the background. But here at RU, we get an extra early spring break. It's fun to be out before anyone else, but in other ways, it isn't.

Students are going to travel to places outside of home. These places include national parks, beaches, and other locations of the sort with more options for activity than what's in the college town or home. This past spring break I went down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina with some friends, and let me tell you, it was a blast just to be with people I care about. Still, the weather was not the least bit cohesive to the weather we wanted, and nothing was open.

Now, this all depends on where you go. If you go home, you're likely not to care about the weather because you're home. Exceptions exist of course. Also, if you travel, you're likely to desire weather in which you can frolic about and stick your nose in all the activities you can find.

When I was down in the Outer Banks, there was one day with really nice weather out of the six I spent there. That was the day I had the most fun on, for I wasn't in a stuffy classroom listening to a professor spread around his tenure. The other days were mostly spent in my car, going from place to place, walking around inside these places. I wanted to be outside, darn it! The weather wasn't bad, but it wasn't spring break weather, ya know? It wasn't cold, but it felt like fall, not spring. Now, the weather has been consistently great. We're finally past that period in the mid-Atlantic where the polarical weather makes up its mind and students are laying on the grass. I'd rather be on break now than then. That ends that gripe.

Nothing was open in the Outer Banks. If you've been to the Outer Banks before, you know of all the fishing, the go-carts, you can rent bicycles, the list goes on and on. None of these things were available to me or my friends. We did find some entertaining locals, but we weren't the only ones on spring break. There were people from James Madison University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and other schools in the area who had traveled to the Outer Banks to have some fun and soak in the area. They were as bored as we were. The main problem was the season wasn't starting until we were long gone. Don't these spring-break destinations know of all the economy they're missing out on by not having anything open? Other students have told me the places they went to were thin as far as activities went. "Nothing was open," they all said.

I suppose an early break is better than no break. This is certainly better than what I had in high school, a Friday and a Monday. Big whoop. At least I wasn't in class. But I don't want to spend my break looking out the window.

Make spring break later, Radford. It's not an absolute solution or a cure-all by any means, but it's a start.

Name: Trevor
Year: Grad
Major: Engl
Comments:
Yes, your grammar and spelling show just how useless your English classes were...

Name: Spider Monkey
Comments:
What the hell is wrong with you Jeff? Do your parents live with you in your dorm room? No. Your a college man. That means you can go on Spring Break anytime you want! Hell, I must go on Spring Break 4 times a year! Miss a couple classes? No biggy. English class was never veray usful any way.