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Show I I i ffeature§@statesnt»an,usU|.edu r*. m-nm !• < [ i ! i ^ Friday, Jan. 25,2001 I :t HI lie as a II By COURTNIE PACKER senior writer \ MARSHA KRAUS, TRAVEL AGENT FOR MORRIS MURDOCK TRAVEL, said some students don't realize a spring break trip needs to be booked back in November or December. ASHLEY LAKE photo For Marsha Kraus, it all began with a hotel room, which she nicknamed The Hawaiian Cockroach. Kraus, a travel agent for Morris Murdock Travel, bought a vacation to Hawaii more than 14 years ago. The excursion was booked through a travel agency, and Kraus was not impressed with the result of the trip. A bad hotel room full of cockroaches ruined the vacation for Kraus and gave her bitter feelings toward the travel agency she previously had worked with, she said. "After that trip, I decided that I was not going to do that again," Kraus said. "I knew that I could do a better job than that travel agency." Kraus put her skills to the test and invested both her time and money into travel school, she said. Travel school is a three-month program that Kraus said taught her how to handwrite a ticket, work with exchanges, learn airport and city codes, know how to book a car, and learn how to schedule flights and deal with airlines. "It is definitely a lot of hard work," Kraus said. "You have a lot to learn because you have a lot of pressure and responsibility placed on you." Kraus said typical office hours for her begin at 9 in the morning and ideally will end near 6 that evening. Realistically, however, Kraus said her day does not seem to end until 7 or 8 p.m. "I spend a lot of my day calling around asking for the fairest prices," Kraus said. "I spend a lot of time calling clients back and working out problems." With gas prices steadily rising and time constantly being consumed, finding a few spare hours and money to visit some of Utah's >J.'greatest ski resorts may be a challenge. v;S That's why Brett Hamilton said he is bringing Powder Trips to USU. Powder Trips is an allinclusive weekend that provides students with lift tickets, hotel accommodations and a ride to Salt Lake. ,, t "I'm trying to give people a good deal," said Hamilton, who is the program coordinator. "It's a total package." For prices starting at $269, ., Hamilton said students will receive a two-day lift ticket to Alta, round-trip transportation, free breakfast and a two-night stay at Shilo Inn, located in Salt Lake City. "We get a special deal on lift ,v' tickets, and ski resorts love college _ kids," Hamilton said. £ ; Alta employee Connie Marshall iv echoed the sentiment and said £-the resort welcomes groups of any £-kind and loves college students. SjFor students trying to save money, £• the group discount Alta offers •E;is reason alone to be a part of j£; Powder Trips, she said. •C Billy Wheeler, undeclared j p sophomore who has snowboarded j£more than 10 years, said the price S i s good for what students get. ££ "A lift ticket alone is like $60. S plus gas and stuff isn't cheap" Wheeler said. Although Alta prohibits snowboarding, Hamilton said snowboarders are still taken care of. For $5 more they can get a pass to ride on Snowbird's 2,500 ski-able acres and 89 runs. The Snowbird Terrain Park and Superpipe are two more draws for snowboarders looking to express themselves in the form of aerial art, he said. From skiers to snowboards and beginners to veterans, Hamilton said Powder Trips are open to every skill level. "Usually a group will drag a beginner down to teach them how to ski," Hamilton said. Hamilton said most people bring their own gear, but for those who don't have their own, there are rental options. The Outdoor Recreation Center, located on 1050 N. 950 East in the southwest corner of the parking lot above the football stadium, rents skis, poles and boots as well as snowboards and bindings to students for $15 a day. Hamilton said he can also hook people up with the right gear if they need it, since he works in a ski shop. Hamilton said he is excited to get on the slopes and turn Powder Trips into a regular event that allows students to enjoy Utah's top resorts. "Alta is legend," Hamilton said. "It's one of the first resorts in Utah. They both have expert terrain, but plenty for beginners too." Although this will be the See TRAVEL, page 6 Mathematics of mating Powder Trips offers weekend getaway By AMANDA MEARS staff writer Kraus said January to April is the busiest time for travel agencies because of the heavy rush of people trying to book their summer vacations. Kraus said summer is a slow season because a lot of individuals have already made their summer vacation plans. However, Kraus said things begin to pick up around late July and August. A lot of Kraus's customers are couples and families planning trips to Disneyland or a cruise. But Kraus said working in a college community lets her see a lot of college students coming in to plan their Spring Break excursions. "It's typical for us to see a lot of freshmen spring breakers," Kraus said. "The freshmen want a fun Spring Break, but they don't realize that they needed to book one back in November or December. A lot of college students do not seem to realize that things book up fast." Kraus said even honeymooners are not much smarter than the young college students when it comes to booking a vacation. "Sometimes I will see honeymooners who want to travel the world for under $200," Kraus said. "People like that make this job quite comical." Hawaii, Disneyland, Mexico and cruises are a few trips Kraus said she books more than others in the Logan area. "Sometimes we even have people who will just call and tell us they have time off next month, so they ask us where they should go," she said. Kraus said with the new technologies evolving on the Internet, travel agencies have felt an impact. Although the POWDER TRIPS IS A N ALL-INCLUSIVE WEEKEND that provides students with lift tickets, hotel accommodations and a ride to Salt Lake. Photo Illustration first Powder Trip Hamilton has organized in Utah, he is eager to spread the word about the trips. The more people, the better, he said. Earlier this month Hamilton hosted a movie night featuring "Apples and Oranges" and "Seven Sunnv Days" to set students interested. The films featured skiers and snowboarders traveling and enjoying the sport, Hamilton said the movies were a part of the advertising he plans to do on campus to inform students about \M See POWDER, page 6 everal days ago, I had an epiphany. It's nothing religious or spiritual in any way. Nothing deep, pompous or redemptive. No, it's much more important than that. Like Einstein working in the patent office in Switzerland, it just dawned on me: S = mb2 S is sex. The b is Baker. The m? Math. Yeah, math, like 1+1=2 math. Solving complex algebraic functions may be the solution to all mating-related problems. I know it sounds stupid, but that's what's so damn brilliant about it. The craziest ideas are usually the best. Who ever thought peanut butter and chocolate would work, or Guinness and Bailey's Irish Cream could come together to create such a delicious libation - the Irish Car Bomb? But this mixture of math and girls just doesn't seem to equate. At first it didn't in my mind, either. It's the way we've been socialized about math, from our stick-thin, pocket-protector-wearing algebra teacher who could recite pi to the 169th decimal place to nerds on TV shows like "Beauty and the Geek" who can unlock the complexities of molecular dynamics and astro physics but can't figure out how to unlock the proverbial chastity belt if the combination was 0-0-0. Math is the anti-aphrodisiac. It's one of those things, like sleeping in a bunk bed or dress- ing yourself in a salmon-colored sweatsuit, that just can't be overcome by any amount of charm or good looks - the kiss of celibacy. Do you see James Bond finding the second derivative of a complex equation? Hell no, he's too busy shaking and stirring - and we're not talking about drinks. Hugh Hefner probably couldn't come up with an equation to figure out his Viagra usage as a function of the number of girlfriends he has this week, but he's one of the most notorious, stonecold pimps in the history of the game. Math is usually like a creepy mustache menacingly glaring at people from your upper lip and shooing girls away faster than the most heinous odor. For a moment, believe that a geek would have the balls to do this. Average Geek (AG): "Hey, you want to learn about imaginary numbers?" Hot Girl (HG) while rolling eyes: "Not really, b u t ! bet you are going to tell me anyways, aren't you." AG: "Well..." HG: "How can you have imaginary numbers? Are they just things you make up, like threfiven thomildred?" AG: "No. Actually, imaginary numbers are a fascinating part of higher mathematics." HG: "Math?" She then vomits lime-green gunk all over his \1 See MATH, page 6 |