Although Mardi Gras often makes its way into vacation plans for a number of students on an annual basis, those heading from Ann Arbor down to the festivities this year won"t have to miss a single day of classes.

Nine days of Spring Break afford University students just enough time to embrace and recover from Mardi Gras this year. Abandoning pressure-filled schedules and deadlines in Ann Arbor, some parade and party-seeking students will retreat to New Orleans for the famed Carnival and Mardi Gras celebration.

Carnival began Jan. 6 and will climatically end with Mardi Gras at midnight Feb. 27. The end of Mardi Gras, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday and the day before Ash Wednesday, will send away 2 million Mardi Gras enthusiasts who will have sleeplessly rallied in a city of 500,000 residents.

Business senior Melissa Spelman plans to fly with five friends to New Orleans for her first Mardi Gras experience.

"I"m excited to have gone once. In general, I"m looking forward to the overall experience," Spelman said.

One of Spelman"s five friends heading to the city of masks and madness relayed similar excitement for a once-in-a-lifetime Spring Break experience. As LSA senior Rachel Kleinman looks forward to an unprecedented vacation, she recalled impressions from friends who had attended Mardi Gras in previous years.

"It"s unlike anything I"ve ever experienced. The entire city will shut down," she said.

Due to the overwhelming attraction of New Orleans at this time of year, hotels and hostels encourage people to make reservations the summer before the actual spring celebration. Considered by the Lonely Planet travel guide as one of the "premier hotels" in New Orleans, the Soniat House said that one-third of their current Mardi Gras reservations made arrangements the day of their departure last year.

Hotels advise visitors to plan ahead, and University alum Paul Hanna, who partied at Mardi Gras last year, also encouraged students to research flights in advance.

"Driving from New Orleans back to Ann Arbor was too much driving if you ask me. Avoid it if you can," Hanna said.

Each year on the day before Mardi Gras, the mayor ceremoniously relinquishes control to Rex, the "King of Carnival" for 24 hours. Leading up to this transfer of power, parades, food and costumes run the spectacular momentum of the city. Lawlessness may live in the hearts of visitors but there are still laws governing acceptable behavior.

William Bess, director of the University"s Department of Public Safety, encourages students to use common sense in an atmosphere of the most uncommon and unexpected circumstances.

"Keep personal safety in mind. If you have a gut feeling that something is wrong, listen to it," Bess said.

Hanna said he left New Orleans last year a little rattled by his first Mardi Gras and the demise of his sandals.

"I had to forfeit my pair of Doc Martens as unrecoverable after walking around the street in them," he said.

Although Spelman and Kleinman said they anticipate an experience like no other, Hanna was able to equate his experiences at Mardi Gras to the University"s Naked Mile that takes place on the last day of classes each spring.

"I kind of relate Mardi Gras to the Naked Mile in one sense. Having run the Naked Mile three times, I think it"s an awesome event," Hanna said, "But what ruins it is all the news channels and all the perverts on the streets with cameras. Mardi Gras is awesome except there might be even more perverts on the streets."