March means basketball and the coming of spring, and that means the Spring Break season. Ah, yes Spring Break, when college students get to let loose and go to different countries for good or ill. Places like Cancun, Acapulco and every other beach town are flooded with rowdy students looking for a gonzo time. Each year these cities brace for the wave of students coming to forget about the troubles back on campus. For Northern Kentucky University’s students the break has come and gone.

However students from many other colleges have yet to take their break.’

Beyond the beaches, bikinis and enough drinks to make the Irish gasp, there is something more going down in Mexico. The drug smuggling and killings have been going on but it wasn’t until recently that the United States has taken notice. Though the U.S. government is funding and sending troops and federal agents to aid Mexico, the war still rages. The problem in Mexico is troubling. With drugs, weapons and deaths piling up along the Mexico/U.S. border, college students are oblivious to what could happen if caught in this ongoing drug war.

‘It’s sad because of the fighting in Mexico. It’s a cool country and what people see is this war,’ said Andre Perez, a senior NKU exchange student from Mexico, ‘Drug dealers should be in jail. Its pretty scary to hear about the people being killed by them.’

Mexico and the U.S. have 50,000 troops patrolling the Mexico/U.S. border according to FoxNews.com. But they can’t stop the drugs from getting through. Along with Mexico’s efforts the U.S. has given $1.4 billion toward the cause. The recent offensive against the drug cartels has cost 6,000 people their lives, according to FoxNews.com, including police and soldiers this past year.

With the drug cartels becoming more and more powerful, the police in Mexico are becoming more and more corrupt. Also from FoxNews, officials from Mexico’s Attorney General office have been detained on suspicion of spying for drug cartels. Other forms of government that have been suspected of spying and benefiting from helping the cartels are the federal police, Mexican police and even Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon. All have been suspected of protecting certain cartels while taking down their rivals. But with a lot of money going around down in Mexico it is hard to resist the temptation of accepting a couple million for every secret given.

With cartels and corruption mounting in Mexico, students still flock there for a week of unforgettable partying. It is understandable that students flock to Mexico. Beautiful beaches, cheap accommodations and the lower drinking age make Cancun and other resort towns Spring Break destinations. Why would a little killing stop someone?

As the death toll rises so does the amount of students heading to Mexico. Would knowing of the danger change their minds? Or would it take for the problem to land in their lap to take effect? The questions are still being asked as the Spring Break season continues. Will students learn of the danger in Mexico?