It’s almost here: the long awaited spring break 2009.

There are so many different things Sacramento State students can choose to do and hopefully they will choose to practice safe sex – or at least be sober enough to remember what they did.

But is spring break only about getting drunk and barely remembering what you did? Is spring break about getting so drunk that you choose to “hook up” with some random person who you met at the bar?

Some Sac State students seem to think that spring break is not just a time to get drunk, but to socialize and take a break from the stress school provides.

Ashley Neal, junior interior design major, has been at Sac State for three years and has gone out of the country for most of her spring breaks.

“I went to Mexico last year and it was so much fun,” she said. “I drank and I relaxed on the beach with all of my girlfriends.”

Neal traveled with most of close girlfriends and wanted to be safe in her actions by not doing something that she may regret in the morning.

We’ve all seen the crazy party animals who do their “walk of shame” the morning after a wild night of meaningless sex, but are they being safe?

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, sexually transmitted diseases increase during spring break and have constantly gone up since 1997, ranging from about 5,000 in 1997 to about 11,000 in 2007.

These are people who have been affected with syphilis, chlamydia or gonorrhea according to the CDC. These statistics really make you wonder who you want to “hook up” with during spring break, and whether or not you even want to.

For many Sac State students, spring break is all about the time away from school to do what makes them happy. James Anderson, senior criminal justice major, said he isn’t going out of town for spring break, but is still using the time to mellow out.

“I’m all about having a good time during spring break, but I would so rather do it where I am safe and where I am not worrying about eating something that will make me sick,” Anderson said.

Not only should students worry about having safe sex and traveling to a safe location, but they should also worry about how they’re going to tell their friends and family they contracted an STD. This is a scary thought. You may see a gorgeous man or woman at the bar, and think you might get lucky. You might want to take a second and think about how lucky that person has gotten in the past.

Justin Emlen, junior business major, thinks spring break is most definitely a time to let go of yourself and go wild.

“Spring is depicted as something so great, and it is,” Emlen said. “We’re only young once, and this is our time to get as drunk as we can, while we can.”

The infamous spring break has indeed blown up on many levels, especially in popular culture.

Music channel MTV is notorious for showing the wildest spring break moments. Watching these shows from a young age, many of us envied the drunken stupors that these older kids found themselves in. MTV admits that it does a good job of making spring break look like the experience of a lifetime, expressing on its website: “Spring break? MTV may not have invented it, but we sure have done a lot to perfect it. When it comes to letting loose and hitting the sand, nobody does it better.”

MTV could not be more right. Students look at spring break as a time to sail away to the shores of freedom, and let’s face it, complete belligerency.

Popular spring break sights like Puerto Vallarta or Cabo San Lucas have always been favorites of college students. This year, however, vacationers are urged not to go out of the states, especially to Mexico.

The US State Department estimates that more than 100,000 American students travel through Mexico during spring break.

The State Department issued a travel alert on Feb. 20, warning the nation about traveling to Mexico.

The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs deals with the administration of laws, regulations and policies abroad. It insists that the crime throughout Mexico has increased and that people should not go to places in Mexico where there are not legitimate businesses and that the tourists should avoid: ” areas where prostitution and drug dealing might occur.”

So, Sac State students, it is true that spring break is nearly upon us. Whether you are going out of the country or choosing to stay here in “sunny Sacramento,” please be safe and make sure that you choose to have safe sex. You never know when chlamydia, gonorrhea or syphilis may come knocking at your door. Happy spring break!

Vanessa Johnson can be reached at [email protected]