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. /• THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, February 16, 2004 7 ■ ■ —■ " ir~ —■— W" ~y “Vacation, all I ever wanted/ I i ^ % /1 I / Vacation, had to get away.” Contact.Us I I fi i \/| I X S5SSdgSSm-v«at,on Story ideas? Questions? Comments? . I I | ^ f | | Y E-mailusatgamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu ~m-"-u—^ -" m Plans are made, bank funds tapped as students anticipate spring break vacations BY KATIE NORWOOD : THE CiAMBCOCK Spring break remains the optimum get-away-from-it-all week for college students around the country; and with less than a month to go, many USC students are busy finalizing their plans for the high ly anticipated vacation. Preparation for spring break began months ago for some. Third-year computer science student Nick LaPorta sealed his plans for a snowboarding trip to Keystone, Colo., back in December. While early preparation is opti mal, some USC students have yet to make any definite plans. Second-year ex ercise science student Rachel Hartley said she is keeping her “spring break options open,” but is certain she will be somewhere besides Columbia over break. A vtaIUav lratr r*naaaaaTiiI nr\»riVIA Kv*aaU nlnnninn 4A tt»*attav* oilAAoflAM nf funds, which means saving money. This can be a difficult task for many col lege students, but most seem to bite the bullet for spring break. Students said I they plan to spend anywhere from $300 to $700 on spring break this year. With all the advertisements about spring break packages and deals, it can become a tedious task deciding which offer the most for the money. LaPorta added that while the travel advertisements might look like they of fer a lot for just a small amount of money, hidden costs could be lingering somewhere in the mix. Regardless of one’s final destination, setting one’s own trip agenda is possibly the way to go. Achieving the perfect spring break look has become an ever-present is sue for many USC students this year. The Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center has been packed with students trying to reach their fitness goals before the big spring holiday arrives. Along with working out, tanning and dieting are vital to many students as they strive to achieve the perfect look. While many will be vacationing over the break, some students will stick around Columbia over the break for various reasons. This especially holds true for many student athletes, including third-year business student and USC baseball team member Davy Gregg, who will be staying in Columbia to play in several scheduled games. many stuaenis also plan to wont over spring orean inis year, earning some extra money doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to third-year business stu dent Andy Davis, who plans to work “unless any last minute plans pop up.” Whatever you decide to do, one thing remains certain: Spring break is a welcomed escape from classes and never-ending homework for all stu dents. It is a chance to relax and regroup for the second half of the semester. So, no matter what your plans may be, have fun and stay safe over spring break 2004. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Jobs, class keep students busy BY EMILY LINSTROM THE (iAMECOCK College marks that strange terrain between the last of your teenage years and adulthood. You’re out of the house, managing your own life and structuring your own schedule, but many are still living off Mom and Dad’s cred it card. While finding and holding down a part-time job might have seemed relatively easy in high school, it’s not so simple for many college students. There are many factors that contribute to students seeking employment while attending college. For some, work is necessary to pay for tuition and fees. Others work to pay rent for off-campus housing. And a few have the luxu ry of working simply to pad the bank account. Students fortunate enough to have a reli able mode of transportation are able to seek off-campus jobs and less expensive means of housing. But the recent lack of funding for work-study programs, along with the hours i students must put into schoolwork and ex tracurricular activities, have put the matter of working while attending class out of the question for many students. Alex Corboy, a fourth-year philosophy stu dent who works full time at California Dreaming to pay rent for his apartment, said, “My parents pay for my tuition and offered to help out with my rent, but it’s something I want to do on my own.” Regarding free time, Corboy said, “I do have leisure time, but it comes at a price. I have to sacrifice sleep; I won’t necessarily do my homework.” For Maggie Nelson, a second-year economics stu dent and part-time server at Ruby Tuesday, free time comes only on the weekends. “Sometimes I have to work at 11 o’clock and I get out of class at 10:45. But they’re really understanding if I come in late,” she said. “I still have free time on the weekends; I only work during the week. But I don’t have any extra time if I want to sleep. I only have set times to do things.” For some USC students, school serves as their job. Christine Schatzle, a first-year the atre student, is an announcer at the USC radio station, as well as a member of the Puppet Regime. Top that with 17 credit hours, and she said there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. “I’m enrolled in the theatre department,” Schatzle said, “ and I work most nights. I’m busy with schoolwork and extracurricular ac tivities.” Schatzle added that, “I worked my whole high school career, and I’ve been pretty stingy with the money I’ve saved. I have enough now so that I don’t need a job until summer.” Corboy said managing school and work can be difficult, but “you just have to have a certain amount of willpower.” Consistency, he added, is essential. “If I go to class, I can stay on top of things.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu w I Aniston faces bumpy road to big screen BY JAMI BERNARD KRT CAMPUS With “Friends” coming to an end on May 6, Jennifer Aniston, the show’s most popular and glamorous star, is expected to make a simple leap to major movie stardom. It may not be simple at all. On the face of it, Aniston is well poised to join actresses like Nicole Kidman, Cameron Diaz and Renee Zellweger on Hollywood’s A-list. She could even make a charge on Julia Roberts’ turf as America’s highest-earning fe male star. Aniston boosted her standing last month with the box-office hit “Along Came Polly.” Her fee of around $5 million per movie now seems set to double. But there are pressing ques tions that Aniston faces as she tries to make a permanent tran sition from TV to movies — a hill that’s proved too steep for some. And some of those ques tions will pose personal dilem mas for her: Is it more important to her to have children? Is she likely to be weighed down by the continuing rift with her moth er? Will marital tensions emerge if her career outflanks that of husband Brad Pitt? Can she “open” a movie? Can she make it on her own without the “Friends” support system? Is she too nicCor too neurotic a screen presence? Aniston has said often enough that she wants to start a family with Pitt as soon as “Friends” ' ends. It seems unlikely, however, that she will disappear from view like Annette Bening, who put her career on hold the moment she married Warren Beatty. Although high on family val ues, Aniston has, if anything, stepped up her workload since ♦ ANISTON, SEE PAGE 8 CD Releases forweek of Feb. 16-20 ir p CONFl^ONSof.ll \MA I dramaqueenI “AIRSTREAMS AND “CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE SATELLITES” DRAMA QUEEN” Garrison Starr Various Artists ' ; . ■ ■ , j “DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA “IN THE HOUSE” | NIGHTS" Dimitri From Paris ; Various Artists “I DON’T WANT YOU BACK" “ALL THAT WE LET IN" Eamon Indigo Girts