What I "Won't Be Doing on My Spring Break

I was dreaming of pina coladas, until the College-organized, cutrate, spring-break trip to Cancun got canceled. My friends offer little solace: one has jury duty over break, and the other was planning to study for her MCATs. Yet I take comfort in the fact that not all Dartmouth students are as unadventurous as those I know. Some 500 students planned on taking some type of trip during the second half of March.

Athletes were to perfect their physique in time for the spring season. Heavyweight crew planned to row along the waters of the Clinch River in Oak Ridge, Tennessee—and, according to Coach Avery Armstrong, to "bankrupt the many all-you-can-eat places." The baseball team was heading to Phoenix, Arizona, to play a: tournament sponsored by the Oakland A's. Not to be out-done in location or ambiance, however, the tennis team planned to play five matches at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in Southern California. Women's Softball was heading to games in Florida. Eight women golfers were Texas-bound for the Lady Bronc Classic tournament. Seven male golfers were flying to Florida for practice and matches, staying in a seven-bedroom house on the beach. One beautiful sand trap.

Singers were raising their voices far from the wilderness. Packing a repertoire of sacred music, the 28 Chamber Singers were jetting to cathedrals in Venice, Florence, Siena, and Rome. Forty-three Glee Clubbers were doing concerts in Worcester, Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, and Naples, before a final gig at the Vale Club in New York.

Outdoorsmen and women chose camping, naturally. Assistant director of outdoor programs Brian Kunz organized a cross-country skiing trip in the Groulx Mountains of Northern Quebec. Normal temperatures get down to 40 below this time of year, and Kunz looked forward to a ninefoot snowpack. "We wanted to go to somewhere where it was guaranteed to be cold," he said happily. The Mountaineering Club was heading for warm rocks in Arizona and Texas. Whitewater kayakers planned a week and a half on the froth of western North Carolina.

While the sororities had no plans, Cancun was the place to be for the brothers of Chi Gam, Beta, and Zeta Psi.

As for me, well, I should have asked the tennis team to consider making me an honorary member.