It’s almost here.

It’s that wonderful week in the middle of the semester when all across campus, discussion of quantum physics and biochemical engineering is halted. All at once, students, faculty and staff alike decide to stop and take a break.

Spring break destinations have been a popular topic of conversation across campus for weeks. So what is everybody doing?

This month sun, sand and plentiful members of the opposite sex will lure thousands of students south for spring break. Many students have been scrimping and saving since last spring break, just to get to one of this year’s most popular gathering places.

According to a representative from Sunchase Tours, Panama City Beach, Daytona Beach and South Padre Island are once again the so-called “hot spots” for Spring Break ’97.

Panama City Beach

Panama City Beach is probably the hottest spring-break destination in Florida. More than 550,000 breakers visit the gulf-coast beach between late February and early April, said Tom Cason, director of the PCB visitors’ bureau.

MTV, the “roadmap to the mind of American youth,” shot hours of spring break television specials there last year and will shoot specials again for spring break ’97.

Brad Street, a junior in industrial technology is returning to the panhandle for the second year in a row. “There were a lot of attractions we didn’t get to see last year, and we had such a good time, we decided to go back,” Street said.

South Padre Island

On the beer-soaked beaches of South Padre Island, Texas, happy hour begins early these days — usually around 10 a.m.

Henry Tamez is a manager of a South Padre Island convenience store. Tamez said his store sells about $10,000 worth of beer every day during spring break compared to $200 during a winter’s day.

“We start having as many as 7,000 kids a day come in and out,” said Dwayne Tyner, co-owner of Louie’s Backyard, a restaurant-bar-dance club on the beach. “It starts getting very exciting.”

That may be an understatement, about 125,000 students are expected to converge on the five-mile sandbar this break.

Costs

“Most students are looking to keep the costs of spring break under $300 for lodging and travel expenses, not including food and drinking,” said a representative from Sunchase Tours.

But people can always count on college students to scrounge up some money for fun somehow — even if it means selling their own blood.

Emmi Parlin, a junior in elementary education, did just that.

Parlin and her boyfriend went “a few times to sell plasma so that we could have some money for spring break.”

Strange Things Happen

The ‘typical spring break’ down south didn’t turn out so ‘typical’ for some ISU students.

Scott Litchfield, a junior in journalism, spent last break in Padre. Only they had some unexpected guests.

“The hotel manager called our room and told us the three prostitutes we had ordered were waiting in the lobby,” Litchfield said.

“We ended up having to argue with these three Mexican prostitutes for over an hour trying to convince them that we weren’t paying for them because someone had pranked us and we didn’t order them.”

Adam Bohr, a senior in civil engineering, tells the scary tale of his cousin’s car.

“It got stolen sitting outside the motel in Padre,” Bohr said. It was locked and the keys weren’t in it.

Beth Fiddick, a senior in Food Science and Technology, reflects on attempting to bring sea creatures along for the 22 hour drive back to Iowa from Daytona Beach last year.

“One of my friends decides to take this stupid crab home. She gets extremely attached to this crab, and even names it,” Fiddick said.

“But, the girl slept for some 16 hours during the drive home and the crab died,” Fiddick said.

However, none of her friends wanted to wake her up to tell her that her “precious friend” had died, Fiddick said.

It wasn’t long before the girls had no other choice. “It started stinking up the car so bad, we had to pull over and tell her to get rid of it,” Fiddick said. “It was so awful,” Fiddick said. “Not only was the smell horrendous, but it caused her a bit of emotional trauma and she cried.”

The Big 12 Tournament

Those going to the Big 12 Tournament seem to have a similar agenda — or rather lack thereof.

Eric Junge, a junior in management information systems, said, “I’m going to the Big 12 Tourney, but I think it’s ironic how everyone who’s going down there [Kansas City] doesn’t have tickets to the games, doesn’t have a place to stay and just plan on going to the bar.”

Other popular spots for Iowa State spring breakers include Cancun, Lake Havaseau, White Sands, Acapulco, Disney World and of course mom’s favorite, Hometown USA.