Substance-free surfing

Wellness Center offers alternative to outworn spring break rituals

By David J. Craig

Long before MTV made it look sexy and fashionable, spring break was an established college ritual in America, a time known for drinking, drugs, and sex. Fortunately, some students consider the annual boozefest a bit outdated.

"A lot of my friends are totally turned off by the typical spring break party thing," says Kristi Bruer (SAR'01), an occupational therapy major and one of eight BU students traveling to the Dominican Republic this March as part of the Wellness Center's Substance Free Spring Break. "I don't have anything against going to party once in a while, but on spring break it seems that people spend the whole time drinking and recovering from drinking. I have no desire to do that."

Wellness Center
Carolyn Norris, director of the Wellness Center, David Nghiem (ENG'00), Jeanne Vultaggio (SFA'01), Tamie Saiki (SAR'01), and Jen Hyde (SAR'01) (clockwise from top left) are spending a substance-free spring break on the shores of the Dominican Republic. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky

The Wellness Center's trip is a cut-rate, all-inclusive package deal that sends students to Cabarate, Dominican Republic, from March 5 to 12 for scuba diving (complete with lessons), windsurfing, hiking, sight-seeing, and plenty of old-fashioned rest and relaxation. Students will sign an agreement at the outset promising that they will not use alcohol or other drugs while on the trip, and will be accompanied by Carolyn Norris, director of the Wellness Center, which for more than a decade has been promoting alcohol-free events on and off campus. The center is funded by the Office of the Vice President and Dean of Students.

While on vacation, however, students are not obliged to stay with the group and are free to explore the coastal city of Cabarate -- famous as the windsurfing capital of the world -- and the nearby countryside by bus or rented bicycle. The whole trip is worth about $1,200, according to Norris, but students pay just $900, partly because of sponsorship through Pepsi-Cola, the Kaplan Educational Center, and the Chickering Group. The price includes airfare, lodging, meals, and daily water sport activities.

"Essentially, we wanted to offer students something different, and because the Community Service Center offers a service-based spring break, we decided on this," says Norris. "Part of wellness, as defined by our center, is being spiritually and psychologically healthy, and having a great time is part of that." Students are more likely to engage in dangerous behaviors on spring break, she says, if they're in a place that has a reputation for being a party mecca. So the benefits of offering students an alternative are manifold.

"Besides the obvious physical harm one risks by drinking that much," says Norris, "there is the danger that increased drinking will lead to other dangerous behaviors, such as violence and sexual assault."

In fact, a 1998 study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that the mean number of drinks consumed by 442 men at Daytona Beach, Fla., during one day of spring break was 18. The mean number of drinks consumed by 341 women that day was 10. The study also found that the same day 91.7 percent of the men and 78.1 percent of the women surveyed had participated in binge drinking -- consuming at least five drinks in a row.

"We're trying to show students that they can go on a spring break full of adventure and thrilling activities and that substances don't have to enter into it," Norris says.

Jeanne Vultaggio (SFA'01), a music education major, needed little convincing. "My priorities for spring break were that I wanted to go somewhere warm and where I could speak Spanish," she says. "The substance-free part was really a nonissue. It's a good deal, everything is taken care of, and I get to see another culture.

"My parents like the idea that Carolyn is going to be there with us too," says Vultaggio. "It's not like we're being chaperoned, and we'll have the same freedom as on any other spring break, but if we need help with something, we have someone there for us."

According to Norris, the Wellness Center is determined to make the Substance Free Spring Break an annual event and already is soliciting suggestions from students about where to go next year.

"We plan to put a lot of energy into letting people know what we've done and promoting this for next year," says Norris. "Considering this is our first year, I think the response was great. By word of mouth, I'm sure our numbers will steadily increase.

"Of all the students who responded, none expressed any reservation about the trip being substance-free after I explained all the activities that we planned," she continues. "In fact, what I hear from a lot of students is, ŒEverytime I go somewhere for spring break with my friends, they just drink and get in dangerous situations, and they wonder why I don't want to go with them anymore."

For more information about the Wellness Center Spring Break, contact the center at 353-3698 or visit its Web site at www.bu.edu/wellness/.