While making tanning appointments and packing the bare necessities, students planning for spring break might be overlooking the most important factor in ensuring a fun trip - safety.

Sophomore Jennifer Zevroski, who is traveling to Orlando, Fla., with Ohio Women's Crew, said, "I'm not worried about safety because I feel like we're not going to be at a prime spring break location where there will be rowdy people."

Like Zevroski, many OU students do not think enough about their safety when planning trips, said Patricia Black, an agent with The Travel Shop.

"They're students. They're convinced, as most young people are, that they're immortal," she said.

But, safety should be a concern long before students reach their destination, Black said. Cars should be checked for malfunctions before departing, and students should obey speed limits and be aware of the weather while driving.

"It's better to get where you're going a little bit late than never to get there," she said.

After arriving at a destination, students can do several things to ensure the safety of their possessions, Black said.

When possible, students should park in a hotel parking garage or a fenced and lighted parking lot. Cars should be locked and any belongings inside should be out of sight.

"Your out-of-state license plates are going to make you more vulnerable and say 'this is a tourist, this is someone who doesn't know,'" she said.

Director of Campus Safety Ted Jones said students should not assume belongings will be safe in rooms and should use lock boxes many hotels offer.

If lock boxes are unavailable, students should not keep driver's licenses and other forms of identification with travelers checks. Large sums of money should be divided and stored in several places.

When students are at the beach, where items usually are unattended, many hotels will hold room keys, purses, and other belongings at the front desk, Black said.

Personal safety also should be a major concern.

Women, if they have a choice, should request a room that is not on the ground floor, which is most vulnerable to theft and attack, or near a stairwell, where an attacker could hide easily, Black said.

Jones said students should remember that during spring break the number of thefts, robberies, assaults and sexual assaults escalates, and should keep in mind that they will be in an unfamiliar area.

"Recognize that you're in a strange area, whereas if you're here on campus, you would automatically know where to go and what to do," he said.

Both Jones and Black emphasize the importance of staying sober to avoid conflict.

If confronted by police, students should cooperate with officers, show identification willingly and refrain from debating the situation, Jones said.

The most important thing to remember is that the police on vacations are not OU Police Department officers, and students most likely will be viewed as people who have invaded police officers' territory, he said.

Charles 1, attorney and founder of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center, stressed the importance of students using common sense while on spring break.

Students on spring break especially need to be aware of the dangers of inviting strangers to a hotel room. Before they leave to go out, students should decide how they will get back to the hotel.

"Safety really is a consciousness of being aware of what's going on around you," Jones said.