Tickets to the Associated Student Government Spring Break trip to Paradise Island in the Bahamas go on sale today at the Norris University Center Box Office, Student Services Vice President Courtney Brunsfeld said.

Brunsfeld said she hopes the trip attracts as many students as previous trips, despite concerns about airline safety raised by the events of Sept. 11 and the recent plane crash in the Rockaway Peninsula of Queens, N.Y. Between 150 and 200 students have participated in the previous two trips.

“I am concerned people will be a little hesitant,” Brunsfeld said. “But I think people are excited enough about the destination and people still do want to do this sort of thing for Spring Break.”

Students on the trip, from March 23 to March 30, will stay at a resort four miles from downtown Nassau. Ticket prices for the trip range from $789 to $1,109, depending on the number of students signing up for a room, Brunsfeld said. The prices do not include a $65 departure tax and $12 handling fee. The prices will increase by about $30 after Jan. 8, she said. A meal plan for the trip is available for an additional $89, and a VIP plan — with benefits such as extra drinks at parties — costs an additional $49.

The prices are a bit higher than those for the trip to Cancun during Spring Break 2000, but the difference pays for a better location, said Brunsfeld, a Weinberg junior.

“Going to Mexico is just cheaper than the Bahamas,” she said. “You’re paying to go to a nicer location.”

Former Student Services Vice President Laura Ellis said increased advertisement of the departure taxes led to less interest in the trip to Cancun, with 20 and 40 people fewer participating than in the previous year.

Despite the span of time between recent events and the trip, Ellis said she thinks the Bahamas trip will not attract as many participants as past trips because of post-Sept. 11 fears of traveling.

“I think the crowd won’t be going just because it’s out of the country,” said Ellis, a Weinberg senior.