Published Thursday, March 18, 2010 12:05 AM

B-CS feels effect of spring break

By MAGGIE KIELY
maggie.kiely@theeagle.com

With spring break among us, traffic seems to be moving a bit better in a few areas, some eateries aren't as crowded as usual and Starbucks is closing early.

Other stores, like Pita Pit on Northgate, have decided to close shop until the students return.

Barry Ivans, manager of The Corner, said the Northgate bar spent the early part of the week taking care of some chores while business was slow. The bathrooms were remodeled, he said, and all the televisions were replaced. The bar opened Wednesday in time for St. Patrick's Day, and Ivans was expecting a full house.

Restaurants and bars aren't the only places where the lack of students is noticeable.

Ashley Wesp, executive director of the Brazos Animal Shelter, said the shelter was without about half of its volunteers because so many go to Texas A&M.

"Spring break does impact us," she said. "Our staff knows that during this week they're not going to have all the volunteer help that they normally have."

To compensate, Wesp said, she urges local residents to volunteer more often and reminds families that junior volunteers are welcome anytime.

While adoption numbers don't necessarily fluctuate during the week, Wesp said the shelter does see an increase in animals taken in.

Animals with identification are held for 10 days before they are euthanized, and unmarked animals are kept for three days.

"During spring break, if we have an animal that comes in that's from an area that is high student population or just looks like it has an owner, if we can hold on to it, we do, but we can't hold them all just in case," she said "It really makes a tough call for us."

One College Station bar definitely not feeling the effects of spring break on St. Patrick's Day was O'Bannons.

By 3 p.m., there was barely any standing room. Some students reserved their table first thing in the morning.

"We got here at 8 a.m. to reserve this table," said Kyla Terry, A&M class of 2010. "We'll be here until 2 a.m. This is a marathon, not a sprint."

Terry and two of her friends interrupted their vacation at Canyon Lake so they could be at the Irish pub.

"We drove back to College Station just so we could be back today at O'Bannon's," said Zac Chaffin, a friend of Terry's. "We're going back there tomorrow."

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