As you read this, untold numbers of students have already abandoned campus in an exodus that won’t be seen again until Veishea weekend. Yes, it’s that time of year again.

It’s the time of year when students trade their Abercrombie and Fitch long-sleeved shirts for Abercrombie and Fitch tank tops and make their way to parties sponsored by American Eagle. It’s time for the most overhyped, overrated event in the college year. It’s spring break.

Once just a reprieve for both students and professors to stop from going stir-crazy, it has become a commercialized-yet-almost-sacred event, some sort of perverse rite of passage.

How is spring break overrated? Where do I begin? Or, more precisely, when?

Perhaps I should begin on Aug. 27, 2001, where the Daily’s first issue included a classified ad for “Winter and Spring Break Beach and Ski Trips.” Or Oct. 1, with nine classified ads pertaining to this mythical third week in March. Maybe it was the Dec. 14 ad with “prices from $499, on the beach from $659 . Book by Dec. 31 and save!”

It could be Feb. 19, where the Daily ran an article about running. “Everyone wants to get fit quick for spring break,” said Laura Woodrow, building coordinator at the Lied Recreation Center, in the article. That same day, I sat next to someone in class whose face could only be described as orange, the obvious result of a visit to the tanning booth. I’d venture better-than-even odds that it was preparation for her vacation in four weeks.

For all the strides college students have made and want to make in the public eye, it comes back to this.

So many students still lock their gaze upon the week they can flee the area to get drunk and/or naked (or nearly so). In the midst of Women’s History Month, we have wet T-shirt contests and fodder for “Girls Gone Wild.”

Now there have been efforts to turn the tide, to use the hype constructively in various philanthropy projects. But these numbers are small. Working all week, even for a good cause, seems to pale in comparison to visiting Cancun and enjoying cerveza.

Then there is the money. Lots of money. Thousands plunk down $300 to $500 for travel and then pack another $300 to $500 for spending money. Is it really worth it? That depends on your point of view, of course, but I can think of plenty of other things I’d rather fork over a grand for.

None involve packed beaches, packs of Bud, or even parkas and snowboards.

And has anyone else noticed the problem with the title? Spring doesn’t even begin until next Thursday, and that’s an improvement over last year’s schedule. “Late Winter Break” is more like it.

On the academic front, all the plans and all the hype make Friday a more lost cause than usual, even more than Thanksgiving break. When professors are scheduling tests on Wednesday instead of Friday because they’re afraid students won’t come, who is the true master of the campus? The class or the break?

Don’t get me wrong; I think a week off is just what I need. But that’s all that’s needed – a week off. Not pushing and frying a body for three months or more for one week on South Padre Island. Is it worth it? Or might it be better to remove all that stress and just take the week as it comes?

For those of you leaving, I hope you get your money’s worth on the beaches and slopes. Not going anywhere gets me that much closer to a new laptop. Kudos to those of you who this column does not apply to.

Although I admit it wouldn’t be too bad if I could go on a road trip.

Jeff Morrison is a sophomore in journalism and political science from Traer. He is a copy editor for the Daily.