admin @ Sun, 2006-03-12 09:00
40 percent said easy alcohol access and lower drinking ages affected decisions about where to spend spring break "I'm excited," said Goldfarb, who spent her first spring break in Daytona, Fla. "I don't have to do any schoolwork. I'll just be able to lay around, lay on the beach and take a break from marine biology."
It's a break from school that often inspires dangerous behavior among female college students, a new study by the American Medical Association reports. Excessive drinking and wanton sex are regular spring break features, according to the survey of 644 current and former female college students.
The AMA reported that close to 60 percent of respondents knew friends who had unprotected sex or slept with multiple partners during spring break. Forty percent of women surveyed by the AMA said easy access to alcohol and lower drinking ages were factors in choosing a spring break location.
One of Goldfarb's sorority sisters, Greensboro senior Jennifer Pope, called alcohol access the No. 1 consideration for spring breakers. Pope has spent midsemester breaks in the Bahamas and Daytona.
"I think women are more at risk to be sexually assaulted or raped or violated just because ... (of the) expectation of spring break and girls taking off their tops and stuff like that," she said.
ECU encourages safe traveling for spring break, said Georgia Childs, assistant director of Student Health. Wednesday, a student group held a safe spring break fair on campus, distributing information on sunburn, alcohol safety, tattoos and safe sex.
Condoms went to those who wanted them, but fair organizers also stressed abstinence, Childs said. Another campus group held a similar event this week, she said.
Goldfarb and Pope both cited missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, who discussed on a graduation trip to Aruba, as a cautionary example for young women traveling overseas.
Goldfarb said she and her companions have set rules for their Bahamas trip: Don't get separated from the group. Don't go home with a stranger. Don't take drinks from other people.
Not all students look for parties during the week off. ECU Student Life sponsors an alternative spring break trip, while the university's recreation department organized short outdoor vacations. A group of 16 students informally decided to return to Gulfport, Miss., to work on hurricane relief, said Shawn Moore, ECU volunteer coordinator.
Still others won't take breaks at all. Charla Hodges, a sophomore from Asheboro, is going back home to work this week. She did the same thing her freshman year and doesn't see the appeal of the liquor-soaked trips other students take.
Goldfarb said she paid $515 for drinks, food and lodging during her cruise this week. Spending so much on a spring break trip, Pope said, can lead to outlandish behavior.
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