As spring break swiftly approaches, one cannot help but notice the incessant hum of agitated co-eds yearning to be set free. It's almost here and any student about to go on spring break has doubtlessly been bombarded with all sorts of information regarding the negative aspects of the matter. Talk about a buzz kill.

Where is the student perspective? Everywhere is information warning us about the imminent dangers in store; the statistics are probably accurate.

I do not contest the fact that acting like a jackass is not a good idea and particularly dangerous when one is surrounded by lots of other people acting like jackasses.

I could provide an endless amount of data regarding spring break's perils. I would, in fact, were students not already turning a deaf ear to the onslaught of warning overkill.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't quite excited myself, and therefore I intend to provide a personal spring-break perspective.

I admit I will be drinking to a point of excess on a daily basis, as are many students raring to hit the beach. 

However, getting wasted and getting laid are not my primary goals. My primary goals are:

• To relax
• Soak up some sun
• Splash in the water like a 3-year-old
• Spend time with friends
• Not think about anything serious for a solid week.

I anticipate this is true for most students, despite all of the "getting mad booty" talk.

The problem is this: students feed off the spring-break frenzy and act like a bunch of monkeys emerging from the jungle to attack an alcohol-laced feast. Alternatively, they behave like a bunch of high school students whose parents have left the house for the weekend.

Fellow students don't tell me you're that repressed. I have also been raised in a decidedly conservative society, subject to rules and regulations that are parental, social, and governmental, and I manage to maintain my relative sanity when I am free of these restrictions.

Students behaving like ignorant jackasses only reinforce the necessity of the restrictions placed upon us.

It's true that one can have a great time and be entirely sober. One can also have a great time and not have sex. That being said, drinking and having sex (though not necessarily simultaneously, or in that order) can make things a whole lot more interesting.

You've just got to be responsible about doing it. Not ‘responsible' as in performing your duty as a good son, or moral citizen, or conscientious student, but responsible for your self.

Humans, as most animals, have a will and instinct to survive. If you are allowing yourself to act in ways contrary to your survival, you have yourself to blame. Know your limits.

If you can drink a case of beer in a day, take a nap, and go out to bars later while remaining cognizant of your surroundings and maintaining your mental faculties, then do it! If you can't drink a case of beer in a day without blacking out (as I would anticipate is the case for most people under 200 pounds), then don't do it. Have a pina colada.

If you feel like going to a bar and meeting new single people to flirt, make out and have sex with, be sure that you respect yourself enough that you will not act in a manner contrary to your survival (i.e. WEAR A CONDOM).

We were all instructed at a very young age not to go anywhere with strangers, even if they have candy. You would be deluded to think that a sexual predator with a drink is any different. It's no secret that lots of co-eds are half-naked and acting stupid; do you think college students are the only ones flocking to the beach?

A little common sense, moderate intelligence and a healthy dose of self-respect will get you far on spring break, as well as in life.

Have fun.

Don't be stupid.

See you at the beach…