Spring break options include using or abusing the break. What will you do?

Next week is finals week and while most students will be focused on studying, a few will be daydreaming about the vacation that follows.

Students must keep focused, though, because while spring break can be a time of hard-earned and well-deserved relaxation, there is still a term to go before the 2011-12 school year comes to conclusion. The hangover resulting from enjoying the temptations of spring break can be devastating to a college education.

This said, the editors of The Advocate would like to offer this good idea/bad idea guide for the upcoming break

Do: Stay on the West Coast. There are plenty of adventures available in our own backyard. Treat yourself to a meal at one of Portland’s hip dining establishments, such as The Country Cat on 7937 SE Stark St.. Sports lovers could find time to make it up to the mountain to ski or snowshoe. You can rent snowshoes from Mountain Tracks located in Government Camp on Mt. Hood. Or take a trip to the coast and possibly fly a kite. The Kite Company, 407 SW Coast Highway, Newport, sells several kite styles from dragon kite to stunt kites. The prevailing winds that come off the Pacific Ocean make Oregon’s coast a premier kite-flying destination.

Don’t: Go to South Beach. Screw LeBron. Forget MTV. Getting drunk and or stoned will only destroy what little storage room is left in your brain after what you’ve already done to yourself during St. Patty’s Day weekend. And it doesn’t matter what your mother’s cousin’s ex-best friend from Troutdale said, a Girls Gone Wild credit does not look good on your resume.

Do: Get some sleep. If you happen to be anything like the editorial board of The Advocate, then you probably take a full course load and work part-time as well. With all that plus the addition of a semblance of a social life, sleep seems to be the most easily sacrificed. Therefore, take some time to get your full night’s rest. Say, seven to nine hours or so. Your body and mind will thank you.

Don’t: Pick up any unnecessary body art. Spring break leads to the misconception that steady sun is only a few weeks away, which leads many folks to try and spice up their skin-swag. That being said, stay away from tattoo and piercing shops, especially when not entirely sober. No one wants to see that particular mistake on your bicep, bro. Or that lovely tramp-stamp, miss. Or the septum piercing that makes you look like livestock, silly hipster.

Do: Plan ahead for next term. Look, The Advocate knows that school is likely the next to last thing you want to be thinking about during break, right after how to get rid of the tribal tattoo from last year’s spring break. However, just making sure you have all your supplies in order, a valid parking permit and your textbooks, or at least the money and fortitude to handle the Bookstore, can only benefit you. Plus, you get the added perk of that warm, sort of smug feeling you get when you’ve been productive. You know the feeling — embrace it.

Thus, The Advocate wishes you a happy, and hopefully productive spring break. Have some fun, get some sleep, make a little extra dough and even start next term all planned out. Just remember: Anything south of Eugene = bad; stupid body art = bad; and Girls Gone Wild = bad.