Saving Money at Spring Break?

Margaret Anderson

March 10^th, 2011

Journalism 271, Section 1

Deidra Jackson

Saving Money at Spring Break?

It is a common known fact that the Florida panhandle is the most common Spring Break destination for Ole Miss students. “Ole Miss pretty much re-locates to either Destin or Panama City Beach at Spring Break,” said sophomore Emmalee Rainey, “ and it’s always a good time.”

College students are notorious for their insignificant funds, and while a trip to Florida can be a lot of fun, it can also be a lot of money. So, are there any options for Ole Miss students to make and save money this Spring Break, or is that an oxymoron?

Danielle Giulio, a sophomore Communication Sciences and Disorders major, is a long way from home hailing from Baltimore, MD. Instead of going with her sorority sisters to Rosemary Beach though, she’s going to Costa Rica with her family. “I only get to see my family a few times a year so every opportunity I get to see them I’ll take it”, said Giulio. Because she’s going with her family, her parents are paying for the trip. “I’ll be saving money”, said Giulo, “and lots of it.”

Joanna Seo, an employee at Crosby Hall, is also saving money this Spring Break. “Instead of going on a trip to Mexico with my friends, my fiancé is flying me up to visit him in Washington D.C. for the week”, she said, “Since he’s paying for me, I’m not spending any money!”

Some students plan on making money during the break. Josh Baggett, a Business Management major will be working at a local law office in Oxford to gain experience and money. “Since I went to Mardi Gras and I’m planning on going to the music festival Bonaroo in June, I need to save money”, said Baggett, “but if it was an option I would have loved to go to Florida.

Freshman Thomas Sipp knows how hard it is to keep up with the Ole Miss lifestyle and is also attempting to work this Spring Break like Baggett. “It’s so hard to save during the school year, I’ve already spent all the money I made at Christmas Break”, said Sipp, “ so I’m working as much as I can when I’m home.”

While many Ole Miss students are not going to Florida this Spring Break, the majority of them are. Even TripAdvisor.com claims that Panama City Beach is the seventh most popular Spring Break destination for college students. “Everyone loves the beach and everyone loves to party”, said Rainey, “you can’t go wrong with the panhandle for Spring Break.”

Sources: Emmalee Rainey- (601)594-6669

Danielle Giulio- dmgiulio@olemiss.edi

Joanna Seo- jseo@yahoo.com

Thomas Sipp- tcsipp@olemiss.edu

TripAdvisor.com

Story Ideas for Thursday, March 10

The first story idea I have was an idea from last time which simply asks the question: are sports teams like football and baseball favored over the Ole Miss club sports teams? The club sport I would be looking into would be lacrosse, and if the University is accomodating to their needs or if they except them to 'fend for themselves'.

College students are often associated with the word 'broke'. I think it would be interesting to see what Ole Miss students are doing for Spring Break, anything creative to save money or are they just taking the week off to go home and mooch off their parents?

Could Last Year’s Chaotic Ivy League be a Repeat?

While baseball, Frisbee in the Grove, and Double Decker weekend are tame springtime events found in Oxford, Phi Delta Theta’s Ivy League spring party is not.
Ivy League is an Ole Miss tradition in which Phi Delta Theta hosts a huge field party in which beer and crawfish are in large supply, and attendants dress up, or rather down, in typical “red-neck” outfits.
Though Ivy League is one of the more well-known spring parties, an incident at last year’s event may have tarnished its reputation. Sophomore Meaghan O’Conner and several others were maced by Panola County police officers while attempting to board Rebel Ride back to campus.
“We were just trying to leave and apparently so was everyone else because we ended up waiting in line for at least an hour”, said O’Conner, “then it turned into everyone pushing towards the buses when all of a sudden the policeman in front of us sprayed mace over the entire crowd, me included!”
Incidents like these are not normal at Greek events. May it be a Friday night band party or a philanthropy event; companies such as Cobra Security and Collegiate Security are there to promote order. Stephen Kirkpatrick, who works for Collegiate Security, completely disagrees that mace was used. “I believe if there were more security guards at the party, things could have been controlled”, said Kirkpatrick, “it wasn’t necessary to call the police and then on top of that have them use mace.”
Due to the lack of buses used for transportation and the location of the party being in Panola County, approximately half an hour from the Ole Miss campus, contributed to the chaos. Only when things got out of hand were officers from the Panola County Sherrif’s Office called in.
“Kappa Sigma would never let anything get that out of control”, said Jake Kronsage, a sophomore member of Kappa Sigma, “if we brought that many people out to a random field in Panola County, we would at least provide the proper transportation to get the to and from campus; and we wouldn’t run out of crawfish either!”
While opinions waver, many are still optimistic about this year’s party. “I plan to go back”, said O’Conner, “just as long as I get an apology from the officer who maced me.”
Joe Todd, a sophomore member of Phi Delta Theta, is confident that this year will not be a repeat of last year. “We have a better handle on the busing situation”, Todd said, “and the location of the party will be much closer to town than last year’s.”





· Meaghan O’Conner-Sophomore-Primary Education Major-maoconno@olemiss.edu
· Stephen Kirkpatrick-Sophomore-Homeland Security Major-slkirkpa@olemiss.edu
· Jake Kronsage-Sophomore-jrkronsh@olemiss.edu
· Joe Todd-Sophomore-(270)454-9466