Students: Think Before You Hit the Road
Spring Break means non-stop parties for many students, but young people need to stay smart to stay safe, according to a criminology expert at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Dr. Denise Paquette Boots, associate professor in UT Dallas’ School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, offers this advice to spring breakers:
• Leave behind a detailed itinerary, avoid traveling long distances by yourself and don’t tell anyone you meet on the road where you’re going or staying. • Safeguard money and travel documents, and keep them out of sight. Buy travelers checks, register the numbers in a safe place, and carry only what’s needed in lieu of cash.• Choose a hotel that offers a safe for valuables, make a copy of your passport photo and carry it in your wallet. Don’t carry a passport unless heading to the airport.• Get an international calling card and carry it with you, along with a note listing the address and phone number of your hotel, next of kin contacts and insurance information.• Recreational drug use and alcohol intoxication raise the risk of victimization. Both women and their male friends need to take steps to reduce dangers. About two-thirds of all crimes against females - and up to 90 percent of sex crimes – are committed by someone the women know.
“Spring Break is a time for young women to take extra care with their lifestyle choices, to travel with friends and reduce their opportunity for vulnerability, to ensure they’re aware of their surroundings and in control,” Boots said. “Young men who care about females can help by escorting them to their rooms and limiting opportunities for offenders to target women who are alone or are otherwise vulnerable because they’re in an unfamiliar place or intoxicated.”
Parents: Spring Break Can be About More Than Parties
Spring Break is synonymous with travel abroad, as thousands of high school and college students escape winter’s chill and the stress of classes to find temporary respite in a fun, faraway place.
But foreign travel can offer more than just a great chance to buy beer with funny names. If they choose the right destination, young travelers might actually learn a little bit during their adventure in another land. Dr. Rodolfo Hernandez Guerrero, director of the Office of International Education at The University of Texas at Dallas, has the following suggestions for parents eager to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip abroad:
• Take the time to design the trip plan with your young travelers, identifying safe, culturally significant and enjoyable destinations. This is a prime opportunity to enhance the spirit of adventure, while encouraging your adult-to-be to accept, appreciate and respect differences.• If this is your child’s first time abroad, select a destination that is receptive to U.S. values and culture. This minimizes “culture shock” and some potentially unpleasant interactions with locals. • Consider travel advisories posted by the U.S. Department of State at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html. Steer clear of locations that are deemed unsafe by the people who know.• Make sure your travelers keep emergency contact information with them wherever they go. They also should carry the phone number of the U.S. Consulate for that region. Parents need to make copies of relevant documents, including international insurance cards, credit cards and passports, before departure.
‘Breaking’ for a Cause
Many college students seek out beaches, sun and frosty beverages as a part of their Spring Break experience. But a select few collegians at UT Dallas are choosing Alternative Spring Break, where they will apply what they’ve learned in the classroom toward a volunteer encounter.
Students register and choose from one of 11 trips — ranging from building houses with Habitat for Humanity to animal rescue efforts to intensive ecosystem restoration. The effort is designed to empower students to continue transforming their own communities long after the break ends, said Monalisa Amidar, assistant director of student life programs in the Office of Student Volunteerism at UT Dallas.
“Every trip is truly alternative,” Amidar said. “From lodging and living conditions to services they will be providing. Students will be staying in convents with nuns or living in a hut with no plumbing, or farming the land. This is so much more than a volunteer opportunity. There’s a larger commitment — a level of leadership and training, and scope of time and energy involved. The students will walk away from this with a different outlook on life.”
WOW: Try Before You Buy!
If you had the chance to try out your career path before you committed to a job, would you make the same choice? Students from UT Dallas will have just that opportunity when they take part in Explore the WOW!, a structured, hands-on initiative that lets them check out the world of work without the long-term commitment of an internship or job.
The collegians who applied to the program are forgoing the traditional Spring Break experience. They will get a firsthand look at the workplace in a career of their choice, make job contacts and have the opportunity to see how classroom learning can be applied to real-world work situations. The externship serves an array of majors, lasts anywhere from a few days to one week, and is unpaid.
“Through exposure to a work setting, students can learn more about job requirements, employer expectations and professionalism,” said Lisa Garza, associate director of career services at the UT Dallas Career Center. “The added benefit is that they’ll also be able to find out if the path they’re on is the right one for them.”
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