Getting a tan and playing in the ocean by day and partying all night may sound like nothing but fun, but for students stuck with planning Beach Week for their respective groups, it is far from fun and games.
Beginning next Monday, University Mediation Services will host a weeklong program, titled "Avoiding the Beach Week Blues," to help Beach Week planners organize "a fun, safe, and successful Beach Week," according to their handout.
Throughout the week, students are encouraged to stop by the UMS office in room 466 of Newcomb Hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.
During a basic mediation session, students and mediators read over a checklist which helps participants address concerns they may not have previously considered.Issues include driving, money and sleeping arrangements, among others.
"For everyone that comes in, there is always one thing that they never thought of," said fourth-year College student Melissa Mullings, a UMS member. "There is no real standard thing people forget. Everyone's problems are different."
Most students who stop by UMS for Beach Week help are individuals hoping to prevent problems on the trip, rather than students who are already in disagreement over planning, Mullings said. They also tend to be members of fraternities and sororities who have been assigned the task of planning for large groups.
Second-year College student Tom Perez-Lopez, Theta Chi Fraternity's social chair, plans to attend the event next week to attain information on how to address possible problems.
"Besides picking a place and gathering money, I haven't really done much else [for the trip]," Perez-Lopez said. "I figure I'll just let the natural hierarchy of the fraternity play out when it comes to picking rooms and stuff like that."
Second-year college student Eric Mayton had the task of planning a Beach Week trip for his group and thinks the mediation service is worthwhile.
"This year it got to the point where nobody else had done anything so I decided to get on it," Mayton said. "Last year we ended up sleeping outside on someone's porch one night because there were too many people and not enough beds.
"Just by having it laid out on the table, like 'sleep comes before hooking-up,' is important. But I know the guys I'm going with pretty well so it shouldn't be a problem," he said.
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