Bizarre disasters abound during spring break
■ Not every vacation is
perfect, but some students
have had worse-than-average
experiences
By Devon Karr
for the Emerald
No matter how glamorous the
intended spring break vacation
spot, something can always go
wrong, and the trip that was sup
posed to be relaxing turns into a
huge disaster.
Unfortunately, tragedy can strike
even if the trip has been planned
for months or if it’s a spontaneous
road trip. Three students at the
University have had unlucky ex
periences during their spring vaca
tions.
Car trouble, a company’s scam
and being in the wrong place at the
wrong time turned these students’
spring breaks into nightmares. Two
years ago, Chris Senden and his
friend were two days into their
five-day camping trip at Breiton
bush River. While driving fast on
an icy road in the mountains, they
slid off the road and hit some trees.
“The car was not quite totaled,
but salvageable,” said Senden,
who had to walk 20 miles to get
help. “My dad flipped out, and I
was busted big time. I was almost
exiled from the family.”
A car accident did not stop
Senden from taking another road
trip last year to Lake Havasu, Ariz.
On the way, his transmission went
out in Yreka, Calif., and he was
forced to hitchhike a ride into
town.
The mechanics had to order a
part for his car, which took two
days to deliver.
“We ended up coming home
early and painted houses,” Senden
said. “We were going to be living
the high life at Lake Havasu — but
no.”
Lucinda Jurden and her friend
planned on going to Mazatlan,
Mexico, through a company called
Sun Tours for spring break two
years ago. She called a travel agent
and gave out her credit card num
ber.
“After this, we didn’t really hear
from the travel agent,” Jurden said.
“Then I called to check on the or
The car was not quite
totaled but salvageable.
My dad flipped out, and I
was busted big time. I was
a I most exiled from the
family.
Chris Senden
University student
der a week before we went, and
they said everything should be fine
for us to leave.”
A few days later, her dad in
formed her that they hadn't
charged the credit card, and conse
quently, her mother called the
travel agency. The travel agency
didn’t have any record of anything
being faxed from Sun Tours, and
they didn’t know why.
“Two days before we were sup
posed to leave, the travel agent
called back and said they didn’t
have our tickets or anything,” Jur
den said. “I was mad at the compa
ny and disappointed because I had
been planning on it for over a
month.”
Jurden changed her spring break
plans and went to Canada.
When she returned, she saw a
story on the news saying there
were hundreds of people stranded
at the airport with phony tickets to
Mexico.
Although Katie Bergerson actu
ally made it through her vacation
to San Clemente, Calif., things still
went wrong.
“There were several disasters
during the trip,” Bergerson said.
After spending the entire day at
Disneyland, Bergerson and her
friends went to Burger King a few
miles down the road. “The man at
the drive-through window had
only given us our drinks when my
friend in the back seat starts
screaming go, go, get out of here,”
Bergerson said. “All of the sudden,
the guy at the window starts lock
ing it up and motioning for us to
leave.”
Bergerson found out later that
the Burger King was being robbed
inside.
“Looking back on it, we should
have seen some of the signs be
cause there were some sketchy
people around the parking lot,”
Bergerson said. “It was a really
scary experience.”
A few days later, Bergerson and
her friends were driving to the
train station when they witnessed
a car accident.
“The car in front of us got T
boned in the intersection,” Berger
son said. “We ended up calling
911 for the second time on our
trip.”
The right resources render best
break for a budget
■The Outdoor Program and
various Web sites provide
ideas to help keep vacation
costs at a minimum
By Hank Hager
for the Emerald
It has been only about a month
since Winter Break, but the
thoughts of spring break are already
on the minds of students. Daytona
Beach, Mexico and Jamaica are just
a few of the many places thpt will
be occupied by thousands ofhol
lege students come this March.
Fun in the sun is the main goal of
these students, but this can also
make a nice dent in their check
books. There are many alternatives
to spending a whole lot this spring,
and there are many places to help
out students.
“If you want to go somewhere
sunny, it. takes effort,” said Dan
Geiger, the director of the Outdoor
Program. “But it can also be a great
vacation for adventure.”
For spring break ideas, students
on a budget can go to the Outdoor
Program’s office located in the
EMU basement. The Program offers
activities such as river rafting, hik
ing and climbing.
“Every spring break there are usu
ally seven to ten trips, and one big
river trip,” said Outdoor Program Di
rector Dan Geiger. Most spots for
planned trips fill up by late February,
so interested students should act
quickly, Geiger said.
He added that the program en
ables students to plan trips on their
own, so they can limit costs and do
it their way.
Those who do not mind spending
a little more money can plan a trip
involving an airfare. Finding dis
counts takes time but on-line book
ing has made it more convenient.
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Web-Sites are now becoming
more popular with travel, and can
sometimes offer the best rates.
What is even more important about
these sites is that students can gain
advice to just about anything they
want to know. Whether they want
to travel to Jamaica or New York,
they can find out what the best
restaurants are, where the parties
are, or even where to stay.
One such site is collegeclub.com
where students can research trips
and other things to do during
springbreak.
The site is affiliated with Student
Universe, an online travel agency.
Members can gain valuable dis
counts on flights, sometimes as
much as $200 to $300.
To make it even better, the site
works with charter companies that
are reliable, said Andrew Arias, a
collegeclub.com representative.
“Students should not have any
problems with Student Universe,”
Arias said.
Many students use the break to
return home and visit with friends.
Emily Gaskey is a freshman from
Sweet Home, Ore. and plans to
Rebecca Wilson Emerald
Hiking in one of Oregon’s ancient forests makes for an inexpensive spring break.
make the short trip to the coast.
“Since we are all pretty much
poor college students that cannot
afford to go to Mexico or Florida
over the break, we decided to ven
ture to the nice, cool and windy
Oregon coast,” Gaskey said. “It will
be a good time for us to catch up on
what has been happening and it
will be like old times again.”
Nominations announced for SAGA
By David Germain
AP Movie Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Holly
wood actors seem as divided as
everyone else about the year’s top
movies.
Five different movies, including
Golden Globe winners “Gladiator”
and “Almost Famous,” took three
nominations apiece Tuesday for
the Screen Actors Guild awards.
The others were the political dra
ma “The Contender,” the French
fairy tale “Chocolat” and the
British dance flick “Billy Elliot.”
Three films — the legal saga
“Erin Brockovich,” the Marquis de
Sade drama “Quills” and the drug
war thriller “Traffic” — received
two nominations apiece.
The SAG nominations are the
last major awards announcement
before Oscar nominations Feb. 13.
Unlike most years, no one film has
emerged as an Oscar front-runner.
A year ago, eventual Oscar champ
“American Beauty” dominated the
SAG nominations with four nods.
Earlier this month, the Golden
Globes, too, were spread among a
variety of films.
Nominated by SAG for their
overall casts this year were “Al
most Famous,” “Billy Elliot,”
“Chocolat,” “Gladiator” and “Traf
fic.”
Picked for best female actor
were: Joan Allen, “The Contender”;
Juliette Binoche, “Chocolat”; Ellen
Burstyn, “Requiem for a Dream”;
Laura Linney, “You Can Count On
Me”; and Julia Roberts, “Erin
Brockovich.”
Male actor nominees were: Jamie
Bell, “Billy Elliot”; Russell Crowe,
“Gladiator”; Benicio Del Toro,
“Traffic”; Tom Hanks, “Cast
Away”; and Geoffrey Rush,
“Quills.”
For supporting female actor, the
contenders are: Judi Dench,
“Chocolat”; Kate Hudson, “Almost
Famous”; Frances McDormand,
“Almost Famous”; Julie Walters,
“Billy Elliot”; and Kate Winslet,
“Quills.”
Nominees for male supporting
actor were: Jeff Bridges, “The Con
tender”; Willem Dafoe, “Shadow of
the Vampire”; Albert Finney, “Erin
Brockovich”; Gary Oldman, “The
Contender”; and Joaquin Phoenix,
“Gladiator.”
SAG’s awards have been fairly
accurate in predicting the eventual
Oscar winners for lead actor and
actress. Ten of the 12 past SAG
winners in top movie acting cate
gories went on to capture Academy
Awards.
The guild also picked nominees
in eight television categories.
Among top contenders are “Ally
McBeal” and “Will & Grace,”
which received four nominations
each, and “ER,” “The Sopranos,”
“The West Wing” and “Frasier,”
with three nods apiece.
“Chocolat’s” Dench also received
a nomination for female actor in a
TV movie or miniseries for “The
Last of the Blonde Bombshells.”
Alec Baldwin and Brian Cox
both were nominated for best male
actor in a TV movie or miniseries
for “Nuremberg.” “Arthur Miller’s
Death of a Salesman” also had two
TV movie or miniseries nods, Bri
an Dennehy for male actor and
Elizabeth Franz for female actor.
SAG will present its seventh an
nual awards March 11 in a ceremo
ny airing on TNT.
The show will include the
guild’s lifetime achievement honor,
for husband-wife acting team Ossie
Davis and Ruby Dee.
The guild’s nominations are cho
sen by 4,200 randomly selected
members of the union. The union’s
full membership of 98,000 is eligi
ble to vote.