You survived “Unofficial” on March 4 and likely will ignore St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th. You need to save your energy and money for spring break, which begins March 19. There are many useful ways to save your money, if not your energy, during this spring break.

Every year Student Legal Service receives complaints from students about spring break rip-offs. There are many legitimate spring break tour operators who will give you a decent price and will deliver what they have promised: a hotel by the ocean and a decent flight or ride to your destination. On the other hand, there are many operators who will get you to the hotel where you are sharing a room with total strangers, including bedbugs and other nonhuman guests who will hitch a ride back home with you and infest your dorm or apartment.

When you get to your hotel, make sure you do not open your suitcase or any packages until you have checked the room for telltale signs of bedbugs. Look for tiny brown dots on the pillow cases and even remove the cases and check. Be sure and pull the covers off and examine the sheets and do not hesitate to look at lamp shades and on walls.

While cockroaches and Florida palmetto bugs will flee from people, bedbugs seem not to fear being squished. If you see signs of infestation, by all means demand another room. It is very expensive to fumigate for bedbugs when you get back to campus and even the best pest control is successful less than 50 percent of the time. Your landlord will fight paying this cost, which can easily exceed $300.

Many students forfeit large sums of money because they partied like there was no tomorrow, and when the cops tried to settle things down, they drunkenly said, “Why can’t you go after real f*****g criminals.” This guarantees that ticket for underage drinking, fake ID, disorderly conduct or all three. The fines can easily exceed $1000. There goes the rent money.

Sadly, many students just ignore these tickets and think because they are at Panama City Beach or South Padre, the police lack the technology to discover where they reside to pursue the fine. All state and local governments are strapped for cash and many, including Champaign County, and have retained private companies to go after unpaid fines and court costs. Of course this vastly increases your financial loss as the cost of collection, which often greatly exceeds the original fine amount, is tacked onto what you owe. Goodbye, good credit record.

A little politeness toward local law enforcement goes a long way toward never being issued the ticket even if you were actually making too much noise, etc. Spring break towns are tolerant of the annual bacchanal but they will not and do not excuse all illegal behavior.

You and your friends have decided to save money and have decided to share a ride and drivers on the great trek south. Great idea. Every year students do this without problems and have a great trip; often the camaraderie of the drive is better than the few short days of southern sun. Unfortunately, others think that 90 mph is the appropriate speed and get stopped by the state police, who in turn discover the open container of alcohol in the back seat, and the last of the semi-burnt roach you “forgot” was in the ashtray from when you partied in Chicago.

The cash register is ringing up a huge bill and these charges can cost the driver her license, and the passengers theirs, for zero tolerance charges, and that tiny bit of pot can land you in the “special spring break hotel” with a view of the exercise yard through bars. The further south you go the harsher the penalties. The state, county and local police forces all heavily patrol the interstates from the second week in March to the third week of April for revenue-enhancing college students.

Pot is illegal, and please do not say it is “medical marijuana” unless you have a valid prescription and you are in the state where it was prescribed. Vacuum out the entire car before you leave Urbana if there is even a remote possibility somebody has smoked a splif in your car.

Every criminal within 100 miles of the University of Illinois knows that spring break is from March 19 to March 28 and that the thousands of students who rent apartments in the community will be either in warmer climates or home with parents.

Student breaks are very special holidays for those who have attained the skill of entering an apartment and practicing their anaerobic exercises by lifting your new plasma TV and the PC you decided to leave so you wouldn’t spend your break time editing your English 101 essay.

Nothing can guarantee that your apartment is not going to be broken into, but you can take basic precautions such as locking the doors and windows. Amazingly, many break-ins only require that the thief walk down the hall and turn door knobs to see if the door will open, and frequently it does; thus, there is not a trace of evidence of a “break-in.”

You cannot always rely on your roommates to secure the unit, which is why you should make sure you have an inexpensive renter’s insurance policy. The renters insurance will cost you less than 10 percent of replacement cost of the plasma TV. Sometimes your parents’ insurance will cover your loss while at school, but this is by no means a sure bet.

One final tip. Mexico is a beautiful country filled with a rich culture and history. It has a cuisine that is far more than the offerings at your average Tex-Mex eatery. Mexico is suffering a national tragedy with the ongoing drug war. More than 30,000 people have been brutally killed so far, and there is no end in sight.

The U.S. Department of State has issued a travel advisory to all Americans who may wish to travel south of the border. The state of Texas is openly discouraging spring break travel to the border towns near South Padre Island. The resort towns, such as Cancun, remain relatively safe for the 100,000 or so spring breakers that travel there, but caution is in order.

Mexican law enforcement has its hands full dealing with the drug cartels. Do not wander off alone for any purpose other than using the bathroom; even then, taking a “buddy” with you can increase your safety. Being intoxicated in the U.S. can leave you vulnerable to assault, battery, rape and robbery. The same is equally if not more true in a crowded resort town. A little fear can save your life, and a little planning can save you big bucks.

Thomas E. Betz,

director and staff Attorney,

Student Legal Services